More than half of teens turn to Jesus for advice but not more than parents, friends: Barna

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Tuesday, November 03, 2026

While more than half of U.S. teenagers would turn to Jesus for advice about their identity, more say they would turn to their parents and friends first, and they ranked their mothers as their top choice for identity advice, according to new data from Barna.

In Reimagining Ministry for Gen Alpha, a report from Barna produced in partnership with Christ In Youth, researchers surveyed 1,500 U.S. teenagers, ages 13-18, from Feb. 14-17, to find out who they would feel most comfortable getting advice from if they had questions about their identity. The data show that mothers ranked highest among both teenagers in general and faith-activated teenagers, whom Barna describes as the most spiritually engaged teens in the survey.

Among teenagers in general, 84% said they would feel comfortable talking to their mothers if they had questions about their identity, followed by their fathers at 78%. Friends came in third at 75%, while Jesus ranked fourth at 68%, just ahead of adult mentors and teachers at 67% each. More than half of teenagers also said they felt comfortable turning to the Bible (66%), their pastor (56%) and their youth pastor (51%), ranking them seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively. Online sources such as YouTube, social media and AI trailed every personal relationship on the list of 10 options.

Among faith-activated teenagers, however, the rankings after mom (80%), were a bit different. Jesus and the Bible tied for second place at 78%, while fathers fell to fourth place with a slightly lower 77% feeling comfortable discussing identity questions. Faith-activated teens were also far more comfortable than teens overall with going to a youth pastor, 71% vs. 51%, though they still ranked youth pastors ninth on the list of people they would turn to for advice.

Barna’s researchers noted that the data shows that parents remain the most trusted voice in a teen’s life by a wide margin and suggested that the most effective youth ministries may be the ones that help parents disciple their teens at home, instead of competing with their roles.

“Students are listening more than it seems,” youth ministry leader Deborah Spooner said. “Students show at youth group how much they love their parents in ways their parents never see or hear.”

A 2022 survey of U.S. adults by the Marist College Poll for Deseret News found that a majority of Americans, including Christians, look to their family rather than the church or religious leaders for moral guidance.

Some 79% of Americans reported turning to their family for moral guidance, including 83% of Christians. Among people who aren’t religious, 74% said they looked to their family for moral guidance.

The second most popular source of moral guidance Americans cited is the rule of law, followed by friends. Religious teachings, a religious leader from a place they worship, and a well-known spiritual leader followed those three sources, respectively.

“Younger generations are less likely than their older counterparts to believe that being religious is necessary in order to live a moral life,” Hal Boyd, executive editor of Deseret magazine, told CP in 2022. “Americans actually find themselves looking to family more often than religious teachings when looking for sources of moral guidance.”