ABOUT THIS BOOK

Religion is a major social institution in the United States. While the scientific community has experienced a resurgence in the idea that there are important linkages between religion and family life and religion and health outcomes, this area of study is still in its early stages of development, scattered across multiple disciplines, and of uneven quality. To date, no book has featured both reviews of the literature and new empirical findings that define this area for the present and set the agenda for the twenty-first century. Religion, Families, and Health fills this void by bringing together leading social scientists who provide a theoretically rich, methodologically rigorous, and exciting glimpse into a fascinating social institution that continues to be extremely important in the lives of Americans.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

CHRISTOPHER G. ELLISON is the Elsie and Stanley E. (Skinny) Adams Sr. Centennial Professor in the department of sociology and a research associate of the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author or coauthor of approximately one hundred journal articles and chapters on the topics of religion and family life and religion and health in the United States. ROBERT A. HUMMER is a professor and chairperson in the department of sociology and a research associate of the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the coauthor of Living and Dying in the USA, winner of the 2002 Otis Dudley Duncan Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Social Demography from the Population Section of the American Sociological Association.

REVIEWS

"A truly unique and important contribution to our growing knowledge about the relationship between religion, family life, and health. An
important work deserving a wide reading."

— Christian Smith, University of Notre Dame

"This excellent compilation of population-based research on the relationships of religion to family life and health establishes a
research agenda for decades to come."

— Kenneth C. Land, Duke University

"Religion, more aptly religiosity, has a long and recognizable history in the social sciences as an innately collective phenomenon. As
such, social theorists recognized early on the power of religion in framing social life. Similarly, the family has and continues to serve as
an immediate and undeniable contributor to the social experience. This volume admirably and ambitiously tackles these major institutions within society and provides fertile ground for scholars across specialties to recognize the reciprocal and cyclical nature of religion, family, and health."

— Contemporary Sociology

"A fascinating array of research that is well-grounded in key theoretical debates and draws insightful conclusions. This volume does a
wonderful job of setting the agenda for research on religion and its impact on other aspects of American life."

— Robert V. Robinson, Indiana University

"Two of the top social institutions on anyone's list—the family and religion—both exert considerable influence on the well-being of their members. Although there are long histories of research in each of these separate domains, here for the first time is a consideration of their joint impact, by leaders in the field of population health and the scientific study of religion."

— Ellen Idler, Emory University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction / Christopher G. Ellison and Robert A. Hummer
Religion and family life outcomes
Religion and the timing of first births in the United States / Lisa D. Pearce
Religion and child rearing / Duane F. Alwin and Jacob L. Felson
Religion and adolescent sexual behavior / Mark D. Regnerus
The influence of religion on ties between the generations / Valarie King
Religion and family values reconsidered : gender traditionalism among conservative protestants / John P. Bartkowski and Xiaohe Xu
From generation to generation : religious involvement and attitudes toward family and pro-family outcomes among U.S. Catholics / Amy M. Burdette and Teresa A. Sullivan
Religious intermarriage and conversion in the United States : patterns and changes over time / Linda J. Waite and Alisa C. Lewin
Childhood religious denomination and early adult asset accumulation / Lisa A. Keister
Religious affiliation and participation as determinants of women's educational attainment and wages / Evelyn Lehrer
Religion, family, and women's employment among Muslim and Christian Arab Americans / Jennan Ghazal Read
Religion and health outcomes
Religion and depressive symptoms in late life / Neal Krause
Religion and physical health among U.S. adults / Marc A. Musick and Meredith G.F. Worthen
Religious involvement and mortality risk among pre-retirement aged U.S. adults / Robert A. Hummer [and others]
Religious attendance and cause-specific mortality in the United States / Richard G. Rogers, Patrick M. Krueger, and Robert A. Hummer
Race, religious involvement, and health : the case of African Americans / Christopher G. Ellison [and others]
Jewish identity and self-reported health / Isaac W. Eberstein and Kathleen M. Heyman
Religion, sexually risky behavior, and reproductive health : the Mormon case / Tim B. Heaton
Religion and the new immigrants : impact on health behaviors and access to health care / Helen Rose Ebaugh
Looking ahead
The religious demography of the United States : dynamics of affiliation, participation, and belief / Darren E. Sherkat
Future directions in population-based research on religion, family life, and health in the United States / Christopher G. Ellison and Robert A. Hummer