June 2025 Research Radar

Youth, Faith, and Culture in Southeast Asia 🏙️ ⛪ 🌏

📋 Synthesis Review 📅 2025 📍Southeast Asia

#youth #regionaltrends #bigpicture

Young people in Southeast Asia are coming of age in a world that’s fast-changing, hyper-connected, and full of competing pressures. From Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, they’re navigating spiritual openness alongside anxiety about the future, digital overload, and shifting family dynamics. This synthesis review brings together insights from Barna, the Lausanne Movement, and regional scholars to form a big-picture view of how religion is shaping—and being shaped by—youth in this diverse part of the world.

Of course, this kind of synthesis has its limits. The studies included come from different countries, use different methods, and reflect different institutional lenses. But when viewed side by side, they reveal valuable patterns—like a shared hunger for purpose, frustration with leadership, and the growing emotional weight many young people carry. Especially in a region where country-specific data is often hard to find, comparative research like this helps highlight what’s emerging across cultures, while also pointing out where more local insight is still needed.

Read our Overview

Here are five takeaways:

🔀 Belief is strong—but complex: Most youth believe in God or spiritual forces, but their understanding of Christianity is often limited or shaped by cultural assumptions.

🤐 Mental health struggles are real: About 1 in 7 young people in the region face mental health challenges, often in silence due to stigma.

🙍 Faith is personal—but rarely nurtured at home: Many say faith matters to them, yet few experience spiritual guidance from parents—especially fathers.

🏛️ Leadership is a sore spot: A majority of youth see a crisis of leadership in both religious and political spheres and want something more authentic.

🧭 Purpose matters more than tradition: Youth aren’t looking for institutions; they want faith that speaks to real issues and empowers them to make a difference.

👉 Read the full summary here.

What You Can Do with This Research (Youth Ministry Edition)

This study is a reminder that youth ministry in Southeast Asia needs to be relational, grounded, and responsive—not just strategic. It’s not enough to know what youth believe; we also need to understand why they believe it, how they’re processing faith, and what they need from the Church right now. While the synthesis gives helpful regional themes, local ministries will need to go deeper in their specific context.

Here are three ways this research can help shape your approach:

Build real relationships, not just programs: Youth are looking for safe spaces to wrestle with faith, not just polished events. Prioritize trust, conversation, and community.
Connect faith to everyday life: Help young people see how Jesus speaks to their struggles with stress, loneliness, injustice, and the desire to make a difference.
Lead with empathy, not certainty: The Church doesn’t need to have all the answers—but it does need to listen well, walk with youth through questions, and model integrity.

This generation is curious, courageous, and spiritually open—but often deeply overwhelmed. Ministry that meets them where they are, with humility and authenticity, has a powerful chance to speak life into their story. Check out the full synthesis report here.

Read our Review

Is there Any Slowing the Grind?

📚 Common Sense, Harvard, Indiana University 📅 2024 📍USA

#mentalhealth #socialmedia #adultinfluence

A new study titled Unpacking Grind Culture in American Teens takes a fresh look at how pressure and social media are shaping teen mental health. Instead of starting with social media, the research focused first on six types of pressure many teens face—like the push to achieve, look a certain way, or plan their future—then looked at how those pressures intersect with digital life.

The study uncovered a complicated and often heavy reality. Most teens feel weighed down by multiple pressures, and while social media often makes it worse, it also sometimes offers relief. Gaming was one digital space that stood out as a mostly positive outlet for teens—a way to unwind and escape. The research also found that while teens know self-care matters, many struggle to stick with routines that could help prevent burnout. Ultimately, this study reminds us that helping teens starts with understanding where their stress is coming from—and recognizing that not all screen time is created equal.

Key Research Questions:

What types of pressure are most common among American teens, and how many experience multiple pressures at once?
How does social media interact with different types of pressure teens experience—does it make things better or worse?
What are the main sources of pressure for teens, and how do adults influence that pressure?
How do activities like gaming and self-care affect teens’ ability to cope with stress?

Key Findings:

81% of teens report feeling pressure in at least one of six major areas; over half feel pressure in three or more.
Social media often increases pressure—especially around appearance, social life, and activism—but for some teens, it also provides relief.
Gaming is often seen as a pressure release, unlike social media; about a quarter of teens say it only reduces stress.
Adults—especially parents and teachers—are a major source of pressure, particularly around future planning and achievement.
Self-care matters: Teens who practice regular self-care are significantly less likely to feel burned out, but most aren’t doing it daily.

👉 Read the full review here.

What can you do with this research?

This study is a great reminder that not all digital media affects teens the same way. Some platforms can add to their stress, while others—particularly gaming—can actually help them unwind. It’s not as simple as saying “tech is bad”; the impact really depends on how and why it’s being used.

The research also highlights how much adults influence the pressure teens feel. Even well-meaning questions from parents or other adults can add stress. There’s a clear need for resources that help adults connect with teens more empathetically, especially around topics like achievement and the future.

Overall, this is a helpful nudge to avoid black-and-white thinking about technology. The same tool that can overwhelm teens might also be their way of coping. We need to hold space for that complexity in how we talk about mental health and screen time.

👉 Read the full review here.

Read our Report

Insights from the Field:

Albania: Ministry to Vulnerable Children and Families

🌐 OneHope Partnership 📅 2025 📍Eurasia

#Albania #partner #vulnerable

About the Research:

Evangelical churches in Albania are stepping into a critical role in supporting vulnerable children and families amid the country’s ongoing social and economic challenges. This report, created by Alo ! Mik, World Without Orphans, and OneHope, is based on interviews with 90 evangelical church leaders and explores how churches are currently ministering to vulnerable children and families.

Key Research Questions

How are churches in Albania caring for vulnerable children and families?
How are churches in Albania discipling vulnerable children and youth?
How can we better equip churches to meet the needs of vulnerable children, youth, and families?

🧑‍🏫 90 church leaders interviewed

📍 12 regions represented

📅 Data collected in Nov 2023 - July 2024

Key Findings

Economic hardship is the most pressing issue – 89% of church leaders say poverty is a critical challenge for children and youth in their communities.

High engagement but limited resources – While 96% of churches serve vulnerable families (mainly through aid), essential services like meals (21%), after-school programs (27%), and psychological support (32%) are still rare.

Many children attend church without their parents – 61% of leaders report that most children in their congregations come without a parent, especially in rural and smaller churches.

Policy vs. practice gap – 61% of churches have child protection policies, but only 13% actively use them, showing a need for better implementation and training.

Churches are highly trusted and involved – More than half of vulnerable children involved in church ministries are described as very or highly engaged, and 80% of church leaders say local authorities are aware of their ministry work.

Parents need more support – Despite widespread recognition that caregivers often lack understanding of children’s needs, only 46% of churches offer any kind of parental support, pointing to a major opportunity for future impact.

Read the report here.

Check out our Roundtable slide deck.

Good News in Gen Z

An encouraging trend is unfolding across the Western world: young people are increasingly turning to Christianity, calling into question long-held assumptions about rising secularization. In England and Wales, the percentage of 18–24-year-olds attending church at least monthly has quadrupled since 2018, from 4% to 16%, with young men jumping to 21%—now the second most likely age group to attend services regularly (The Quiet Revival). This revival is mirrored in Bible sales, which have surged 87% in the UK between 2019 and 2024, a shift largely driven by younger generations, 62% of whom now identify as spiritual (The Christian Institute).

This movement isn't confined to the UK. In the United States, Gen Z and Millennials are becoming more committed to Jesus than older generations, with young men again leading the change—Gen Z males saw a 15-point jump in Jesus-following since 2019 (Barna). In France, young adults now make up 36% of baptized adults, a dramatic increase post-pandemic (The Pillar). In Finland, belief in God among young men more than doubled from 19% in 2011 to 43% in 2019 (Evangelical Focus). And in Australia, nearly 785,000 people who identified as having no religion in 2016 listed Christianity in 2021. Church attendance among Gen Y and Gen Z Christians is over 70%, compared to just 26% for Baby Boomers (Melbourne Anglican). Across continents, these signs point to a quiet but significant spiritual shift among the next generation.

Mark Sayers is a pastor in Australia who provides a thoughtful response to these findings, and how the church might respond. The entire episode is well worth a listen, but three points stand out from this insightful podcast conversation:

A surge in Christian engagement, especially among Gen Z in Europe and older adults in Australia. The data shows a significant rise in spiritual openness during these crisis-filled times.
A “green‑light moment” for churches—the hosts describe this as a unique opportunity for faith communities to move beyond entertainment and create authentic spaces for real encounters with God and meaningful human connection.
Gen Z is spiritually curious but cautious about institutions—this generation is seeking meaning and transcendence, yet they remain skeptical of traditional religious structures. This presents both a challenge and an invitation for the church to adapt and respond thoughtfully.

Thanks for reading!

That's it for this edition of the Research Radar! If you have any questions about the research featured here contact us at research@onehope.net

Know of an interesting research study, article, or book we should be reading? Send it our way! We would love to take a look for a future edition of the radar.

In this edition:

Good research always cites its sources–and so do we! Here are the articles and authors featured in this edition of the Research Radar:

Barna. “The Connected Generation: How Christian Leaders Around the World Can Strengthen Faith & Well-Being Among 18 –35 -Year- Olds, Southeast Asia Report.” Barna Group, 2020. https://shop.barna.com/collections/the-connected-generation/products/the-connected-generation-country-reports?variant=31865293930577.

Cornelio, Jayeel. “Youth and Religion in East and Southeast Asia.” In Handbook of Children and Youth Studies, edited by Johanna Wyn, Helen Cahill, and Hernán Cuervo, 897–912. Singapore: Springer Nature, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8606-4_40.

Lausanne Movement. “The State of the Great Commission in Southeast Asia: Major Challenges and Opportunities.” Accessed January 30, 2025. https://lausanne.org/report/south-east-asia.

Mann, Supreet, Angela Calvin, Amanda Lenhart, and Michael B. Robb. The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight, 2025. San Francisco: Common Sense Media, 2025.

Weinstein, Emily, Sara Konrath, Eduardo A. Lara, Beck Tench, Carrie James, Supreet Mann, and Amanda Lenhart. Unpacking Grind Culture in American Teens: Pressure, Burnout, and the Role of Social Media. San Francisco: Common Sense Media, Center for Digital Thriving, and Indiana University, 2024. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/2024-unpacking-grind-culture-in-american-teens_final-updated-for-web.pdf

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