Teen birth rate is very highly correlated with religiosity at the state level (P<0.0005), with more religious states having a higher rate of teen birth.
That's the conclusion drawn by Joseph M. Strayhorn, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with faculty appointments at Drexel University College of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh, in an analysis published in the open access journal Reproductive Health.
Strayhorn and co-author Jillian Strayhorn came to that conclusion by correlating Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life in 2008 data with teen birth rate data from the CDC and income data from the U.S. Bureau of Census.
Not surprisingly, states with a higher religious index score had a lower abortion rate, so religiosity was predictive of both more teen births and fewer abortions (P=0.002), Strayhorn found.
The "correlation between religiosity and teen birth rate remained highly significant (P<0.0005) when income was controlled for," he wrote.
Strayhorn speculated that a "possible explanation for this relationship is that teens in more religious communities may be less likely to use contraception."
Adding that it was possible that "conservative religious communities in the U.S. are more successful in discouraging use of contraception among their teen community members than in discouraging sexual intercourse itself."
He also cautioned against using the results to conclude that religious teens get pregnant more often.
"The associations we report could still be obtained if, hypothetically, religiosity in communities had an effect of discouraging contraceptive use in the whole community, including the nonreligious teens there, and only nonreligious teens became pregnant."
The "religious index" used in this analysis was based on responses collected by a Pew phone survey in 2007. The survey included 35,957 participants who were asked to respond to eight statements concerning religious beliefs.
On a state-by-state basis, the authors calculated the percentage of survey participants who endorsed these statements:
- Belief in God or a universal spirit: Absolutely certain.
- There is only one way to interpret the teachings of my religion.
- Scripture should be taken literally, word for word.
- Religion is very important in my life.
- Attend church at least once a week.
- Pray at least once a day.
- Receive an answer to specific prayer request at least once a month.
Finally, Stayhorn wrote that the findings "by themselves, of course, do not permit causal inferences."
Disclosures
No funding source was reported for the study.
The authors reported no competing interests.
Primary Source
Human Reproduction
Source Reference: Stayhorn JM and Strayhorn JC "Religiosity and teen birth rate in the United States" Hum Reprod.