October 2, 2011. (Romereports.com) Over the years, there's been plenty of research done on the family. But perhaps, not quite as popular, is research that focuses on  family life and religion.  Specifically, data that compares American families that worship regularly with those that don't.

Pat Fagan
Marriage and Religion Research Institute (USA)
“When couples worship their marriage is stronger, when families worship their family life is happier as well as many other things. For the unity and strength, worship is key. Worship and prayer.”

Pat Fagan is the director of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute in Washington D.C.
It's a center that organizes data from different institutions and then summarizes it. He says, the research is crystal clear: Families that worship thrive. Children who worship weekly with their families do better in school. As far as adults, the numbers show they're more stable, both socially and emotionally, which leads to a stronger marriage.

Dr. Pat Fagan
Marriage and Religion Research Institute (USA)
“In all things, adults and children from married families as a group do best compared to all the other family structures.”

For example, according to the research,  people who worship weekly with their families, are less likely to fall into addiction, have run-ins with the law or get divorced. Fagan says on a social scale this alone has a huge impact. It means, when people worship regularly, they're more emotionally stable. This leads to higher efficiency and morale both in work and in their personal life.

Dr. Pat Fagan
Marriage and Religion Research Institute (USA)
“All marriages go through unhappiness and actually kids can benefit from seeing their parents, and the research shows this, work things through and restore happiness.”

The institute also analyzes data that deals with national patterns in the U.S, including family structure, culture, health and bio-ethics. It also includes studies that deal with social behaviors and family income.