Even as young adults increasingly put off marriage, the traditional assumption that saying “I do” at the altar can help pump new vibrancy into congregational life no longer appears valid, new research indicates. What does bring young adults back to religious congregations is having children. And it is not just married couples with children that are filling pews.

Parents who cultivate the spiritual lives of their children are more likely to help them develop into well-adjusted young adults, a new wave of research indicates. And adolescents with strong faith are more likely to have better mental health later in life and are less likely to succumb to a range of addictions, from drugs to online pornography, the studies suggest.

The holy grail for helping youth remain religiously active as young adults has been at home all along: Parents. Mothers and fathers who practice what they preach and preach what they practice are far and away the major influence related to adolescents keeping the faith into their 20s, according to new findings from a landmark study of youth and religion.