Date
10-14-2026
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)
Chair
Laura Rolen
Keywords
Adolescence, religiosity, volunteering, mental health, flourishing
Disciplines
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Lesher, Todd Reiff, "The Correlational and Predictive Effect of Evangelical Adolescent Church Volunteering and Mental Health Flourishing" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 9000.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/9000
Abstract
Adolescence is a time of significant development, often characterized by pubertal changes, identity exploration, and shifts in interpersonal relationships from parents to peers, all of which are necessary for the transition from childhood to adulthood. In addition to these aspects of adolescent development, personal and contextual changes can contribute to internalizing vulnerabilities throughout adolescence that can jeopardize their mental health. The focus of this study concentrates on religious volunteering, to better understand how variables related to volunteering contribute to adolescent mental health. The purpose of this study is to understand how Evangelical church volunteering impacts mental health flourishing in adolescents. Considering the purpose and gaps of this study, four hypotheses were analyzed to test a) the relationship between adolescent church volunteer duration and mental health flourishing, b) levels of mental health flourishing after controlling for church attendance and family religious salience, c) correlations between church attendance and mental health flourishing, and d) associations between family religious salience and mental health flourishing. This study is a cross-sectional, quantitative design involving 110 Evangelical church adolescents between the ages of 14-18, using the Mental Health Continuum – Short Form (Keyes, 2009). Statistical analysis was conducted using Spearman’s and hierarchical regression. Findings revealed that no statistical significance was found pertaining to the study’s hypotheses, but a positive moderate correlation was found between adolescent church attendance and volunteer duration, as well as a significant negative moderate correlation between adolescent church attendance and family religious salience, supporting extant research. Limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research are also included.
