Multiple and opposing roles of types of maternal religiosity in predicting children's aggressive behaviors

The present thesis investigated the association of maternal religiosity with power relations in the family and aggressive behaviors of children. In this thesis, a specific religious belief, fear of divine punishment, was considered and referred to as "belief in punishing God." In doing so, the association of maternal religiosity, which included the subjective religiosity and religious practices of mothers, with power relations in the family and child aggression was simultaneously controlled. A 5-year longitudinal and nationally representative data from the Early Child Developmental Ecologies in Turkey (ECDET) study (N = 1,050; 582 boys and 468 girls) was used. The sample was composed of children who were three years old in the first wave and their mothers. Results showed that maternal belief in punishing God, measured when children were at age 4, was positively associated with asymmetrical power relations between spouses favoring the husband and maternal power assertion at age 5, and aggressive behaviors of children at age 7, although the effect sizes were small. Asymmetrical power relations between spouses favoring the husband were positively associated with power assertive behaviors of mothers towards children, and maternal distress partially mediated this association. The results showed that maternal power assertion was the strongest factor positively associated with child aggression. However, maternal religiosity was the only factor negatively associated with child aggression. The findings underscored the importance of consideration of maternal religiosity as a multidimensional construct associated with power relations in the family.