Parental Divorce and Adventist Youth Retention

Executive summary

Research consistently demonstrates that parental divorce significantly reduces religious retention among youth, with Adventist-specific data indicating approximately 50% of divorced members leave the church within three years — taking their children's faith formation with them. Broader sociological research shows offspring of divorced parents report 34% lower religious service attendance in adulthood compared to those from intact families. The mechanisms are well-understood: disrupted religious ...