Spirituality and religiosity in the developing person

ABSTRACT

Traditionally, children have generally been considered as developmentally immature and unable to experience spirituality. However, more recent studies seem to indicate the opposite. This article aims 1) explore how religiosity and spirituality evolve in the developing person; (2) describe the perceptions of children about God; (3) explore how spirituality and religiosity are related to mental health; and (4) describe the relevant theories of faith development in children and adolescents and (5) make recommendations to foster spirituality and religiosity among children in order to promote healthier youth and a better society. The results of more recent studies show that children have an inborn spiritual nature and a craving to learn more about God or other spiritual themes, which seems to be a natural part of their development. Related studies analysed here show a synergistic positive association between spirituality and mental health. It seems spiritual development is an integral part of human development and cannot be studied in isolation, ignoring the other dimensions of one’s being. Parents and educators need to take into consideration all aspects of human development including the spiritual one, and nurture children’s spirituality as it can provide support and inner resilience at difficult times.

KEYWORDS:

• Spirituality
• religion
• children
• adolescents

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eleonora Papaleontiou - Louca

Eleonora Papaleontiou - Louca is an associate professor in Psychology at the European University Cyprus. She has a B.Ed. degree in Education, an M.A. in Education and a PhD in Developmental / Cognitive and Educational Psychology. She is also a PhD candidate in Psychology of Religion. She has published 6 books, many articles in Greek and international journals. Dr E. Louca has also given hundreds of lectures to parents and specialized groups related to psychological topics and children’s upbringing issues and presents her own radio-program.