Religious Activities: The aforementioned Barna study found that a "symbiotic partnership" between parents and the church is essential for children's well-being. According to a study published in the American Journal of Sociology, the rate of couples living together without marriage is seven times higher for those who never attended church services than for those who attended church several times a week. Young people who are affiliated with a church have higher rates of marriage than those who substitute cohabitation for marriage.

Denominational Affiliation: A unique finding of the Child Trends and National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy study is that denominational affiliation is an important factor in delaying teen sex. Perhaps it should be obvious that churches and denominations with carefully delineated theology and worship rituals, including hymns that have stood the test of time, would more effectively impact families than churches or denominations that have more emphasis on feelings and emotions than doctrine, are driven more by a strong, dominant personality than by Biblical beliefs, and use less theologically orthodox music in worship.

Peer Religious Attendance: Numerous studies indicate that teens acquire friends based on similar sexual behavior. Numerous studies also indicate that peer influences are pivotal during the teen years. Obviously then, having a network of friends with similar values reinforces attitudes and behaviors consistent with those beliefs. But there are also studies indicating that the strength of peer influence is determined by the teen's relationship with his or her parents. In fact, a 1993 study of seventh-graders showed that when the parent-child relationship is characterized as "distant," the teens are more likely to associate with friends who are sexually active and to have sexually permissive attitudes and behavior. The Journal of Adolescent Health revealed that women who did not attend church in their adolescence were more than twice as likely to report having multiple sex partners compared with those who attended services regularly.

Positive Mother-Teen Relationship: While much has been written in the popular literature about the importance of parents and fathers in teen well-being, there has been little focus on the role of mothers. Yet, the scholarly research is plentiful that an adolescent's relationship with his or her mother is pivotal in determining whether he or she engages in teen sex and other risky behaviors. A growing body of information is available about the ways that a mother socializes her children according to her personal beliefs, cultural norms and religious values.

For instance, numerous studies indicate that mothers communicate more often with their children than do fathers. Ideally, beliefs are based on a solid foundation of reason and logical consistency, but the motivation to internalize those beliefs is an emotional response. When a father and mother work together in parenting, children internalize both sound reasons for appropriate behavior and the emotional strength to withstand external pressures to conform to societal trends.

With overwhelming evidence about "what works" in protecting our children from the harmful results of early sexual activity, those who truly care about their children ought to make church involvement a priority. Far too many parents focus on providing material benefits and forget that they need to meet their children's spiritual needs. If we as parents don't feed their souls, they will seek to fill that emptiness with drugs, alcohol or sex -- or they will turn to the dozens of other ways teens mess up their lives seeking a parental and faith substitute.

Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse is a Senior Fellow of Concerned Women for America’s  Beverly LaHaye Institute. She writes about contemporary issues that affect women, family, religion and culture in her regular column "Dot.Commentary."