Longitudinal data on parental religious behaviour and beliefs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
There is evidence that, in general, the West is becoming more secular. Religious belief has been shown in some studies to have positive associations with outcomes such as coping with serious illness and other life events and general well-being. In this paper, we describe the data from parents enroll...
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doaj-a806391a4182435190cbdd849f4db83e2020-11-24T20:59:03ZengWellcomeWellcome Open Research2398-502X2019-06-01410.12688/wellcomeopenres.15127.216746Longitudinal data on parental religious behaviour and beliefs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]Yasmin Iles-Caven0Steven Gregory1Kate Northstone2Jean Golding3Bristol Medical School (Public Health Sciences), University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKBristol Medical School (Public Health Sciences), University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKBristol Medical School (Public Health Sciences), University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKBristol Medical School (Public Health Sciences), University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UKThere is evidence that, in general, the West is becoming more secular. Religious belief has been shown in some studies to have positive associations with outcomes such as coping with serious illness and other life events and general well-being. In this paper, we describe the data from parents enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) on their religious behaviour and beliefs collected on three occasions during the 1990s and early 2000s, that are available for researchers to use in association with other longitudinally collected data on social, biological, genetic and epigenetic features of this culturally largely protestant Christian population. Data were collected antenatally and then subsequently at 5 and 9 years post-delivery from self-completion questionnaires completed by each parent independently. Strong sex differences (all P<0.001) were noted regarding religious beliefs and behaviour: for example, 49.9% of women stated that they believed in God or some divine being compared with 37% of men. Almost twice as many men (28.6%) than women (14.9%) declared they were atheists. Men were less likely to have stated that they had been helped by a divine presence; to appeal to God if they were in trouble, to attend religious services or obtain help from members of religious groups. Among the 6256 women and 2355 men who answered the questions at all three time points, there was evidence of a slight reduction in professed belief and a slight increase in the proportion stating that they were atheists. Information is available from this resource, which is rich in data on the environment, traumatic incidents, health and genetic background. It can be used for research into various aspects of the antecedents and consequences of religious belief and behaviour.https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/4-38/v2 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Yasmin Iles-Caven Steven Gregory Kate Northstone Jean Golding |
spellingShingle |
Yasmin Iles-Caven Steven Gregory Kate Northstone Jean Golding Longitudinal data on parental religious behaviour and beliefs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] Wellcome Open Research |
author_facet |
Yasmin Iles-Caven Steven Gregory Kate Northstone Jean Golding |
author_sort |
Yasmin Iles-Caven |
title |
Longitudinal data on parental religious behaviour and beliefs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
title_short |
Longitudinal data on parental religious behaviour and beliefs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
title_full |
Longitudinal data on parental religious behaviour and beliefs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
title_fullStr |
Longitudinal data on parental religious behaviour and beliefs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
title_full_unstemmed |
Longitudinal data on parental religious behaviour and beliefs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
title_sort |
longitudinal data on parental religious behaviour and beliefs from the avon longitudinal study of parents and children (alspac) [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
publisher |
Wellcome |
series |
Wellcome Open Research |
issn |
2398-502X |
publishDate |
2019-06-01 |
description |
There is evidence that, in general, the West is becoming more secular. Religious belief has been shown in some studies to have positive associations with outcomes such as coping with serious illness and other life events and general well-being. In this paper, we describe the data from parents enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) on their religious behaviour and beliefs collected on three occasions during the 1990s and early 2000s, that are available for researchers to use in association with other longitudinally collected data on social, biological, genetic and epigenetic features of this culturally largely protestant Christian population. Data were collected antenatally and then subsequently at 5 and 9 years post-delivery from self-completion questionnaires completed by each parent independently. Strong sex differences (all P<0.001) were noted regarding religious beliefs and behaviour: for example, 49.9% of women stated that they believed in God or some divine being compared with 37% of men. Almost twice as many men (28.6%) than women (14.9%) declared they were atheists. Men were less likely to have stated that they had been helped by a divine presence; to appeal to God if they were in trouble, to attend religious services or obtain help from members of religious groups. Among the 6256 women and 2355 men who answered the questions at all three time points, there was evidence of a slight reduction in professed belief and a slight increase in the proportion stating that they were atheists. Information is available from this resource, which is rich in data on the environment, traumatic incidents, health and genetic background. It can be used for research into various aspects of the antecedents and consequences of religious belief and behaviour. |
url |
https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/4-38/v2 |
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