Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing, 30:71–86, 2007 Copyright © Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. ISSN: 0146-0862 print / 1521-043X online DOI: 10.1080/01460860701525147 71 UCPN 0146-0862 1521-043X Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing, Vol. 30, No. 3, July 2007: pp. 1–27 Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing A LINGUISTIC INVESTIGATION OF MEDIATORS BETWEEN RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT AND HEALTH BEHAVIORS IN OLDER ADOLESCENTS Older Adolescents’ Religious Commitment L. Rew et al. Lynn Rew Y. Joel Wong Rosamar Torres Elizabeth Howell The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA Social scientists are beginning to take an interest in the role that religiosity plays in the development of health behaviors throughout adolescence. Although there is mounting evidence of a relationship between these con- structs, how and why such relationships exist is not well understood. In this exploratory study of 28 racially diverse university students, we exam- ined whether the relationship between religious commitment and health behaviors could be detected through written language. The results indi- cated that religious commitment and various indices of healthy lifestyle practices were strongly correlated, that healthy lifestyle practices were related to use of causal words (representing cognitive attempts at under- standing causes and effects) and first person plural words (representing social connectedness). The results were consistent with a model in which participants’ use of causal words partially or fully mediated the relations between religious commitment and healthy lifestyle practices. Implica- tions of findings and directions for future research are discussed. Adolescence, the second decade of life, is characterized by dramatic changes in the physical, social, and psychological dimensions of the per- son. This phase of life is characterized as a time when many directions for the future are possible and when independence to explore such possibili- ties is greatest. It may be that this stage of life is also characterized by Received 20 February 2007; accepted 9 March 2007. Address correspondence to Lynn Rew, EdD, RN, FAAN, 1700 Red River, Austin, TX 78701. E-mail: ellerew@mail.utexas.edu