David Dollahite, Professor

Department: Family Life

Vita

Bio

David C. Dollahite is Professor of Family Life at Brigham Young University where he teaches classes and conducts research on the links between religion and family life. He is Co-Director (with Dr. Loren Marks) of the American Families of Faith Project. He received the Eliza R. Snow Fellowship for his research on religion and family relationships and was an Associate Director of the School of Family Life.
He has been a visiting scholar at the Stanford University Center on Adolescence, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Dominican University of California, and was the Jawaharlal Nehru Visiting Scholar at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India.
Professor Dollahite obtained a bachelor’s degree in family life and a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from BYU (1985) and a doctorate in family studies from the University of Minnesota (1989).
He is co-author (with Loren D. Marks) of Religion and Families: An Introduction (2017, Routledge). He has published over 100 scholarly articles and chapters and has edited or co-edited four books including Generative Fathering (Sage, 1998) and three volumes on LDS family life: Successful Marriages and Families (BYU Studies, forthcoming), Helping and Healing Our Families (Deseret Book, 2005), and Strengthening Our Families (Bookcraft, 2000).
David and his wife, Mary Kimball Dollahite, J.D. have been married since August of 1983 and are the lucky parents of seven terrific kids—Rachel, Erica, Camilla, Kathryn, Spencer, Jonathan, and Luke and are grandparents of David, Edward, and Eliza Lambourne (children of Rachel and Collin Lambourne).

Research Interests

The nexus of religion and family relationships

Awards

• Camilla Eyring Kimball Professorship from College of Family, Home, & Social Sciences, 2018
• Best Public Scholarship Publication from School of Family Life,
• Research Award from School of Family Life,
• Virginia F. Cutler Lecturer from BYU, College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences,
• Co-recipient (with Sam A. Hardy) of Marjorie Pay Hinckley Research Award from College of Family, Home, & Social Sciences, 2013

Professional Affiliations

• American Psychological Association
• Religious Research Association
• Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
• National Council on Family Relations

Recent Publications

• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (forthcoming). Approaching God: Commonalities between Jewish and Latter-day Saint prayer and worship. In .),“The learning of the Jews”: What Judaism can teach Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City Utah: Kofford.
• Boyd, H., Hawkins, A., Dollahite, D., & Draper, T. (2020). One Latter-day Saint Perspective on Same-Sex Marriage: Successful Marriages and Families. Provo, Ut: 2020: BYU Studies Press.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2020). Text-map analysis: An introduction to the method and an examination of relationship self-regulation and religion. In Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice (pp. 45–58).
• Dollahite, D., Marks, L., & Witting, A. (2020). How relationship-enhancing transcendent religious experiences during adversity can encourage relational meaning, depth, healing, and action. Religions, 11, 13.
• Marks, L., & Dollahite, D. (2020). Uniting and dividing influences of religion in marriage among highly religious couples. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 12(2), 167-177.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (forthcoming). Talking with Teenagers about Religion. Ensign.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2020). Apocalyptic fear and authentic faith. MercatorNet, 3.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2020). Healthy Religion is Good for American Families. Deseret News, 4.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2020). Guest opinion : Healthy Religion Is Good for American Families. Deseret News.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2020). Romantic Love and Religion—A Match Made by Heaven?. RealClearReligion.
• Marks, L., & Dollahite, D. (2020). Rock and Religion : The Pursuit of Everlasting Love: Public Square. Los Angeles, CA: Elizabeth McCune Institute and the John A. Widtsoe Foundation.
• Dollahite, D., Marks, L. D., & Boyd, H. (2020). The Best Practices—and Benefits—of Religious Parenting. Public Discourse.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2020). How parents balance desire for religious continuity with honoring children’s religious agency. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 13.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2020). Family and Religion. Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2020). Strengths in diverse families of faith: Exploring religious differences. , 164 pp..
• Poppert, H. D., Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2019). Sacrifice and Self-care as relational processes in religious families: The connections and tensions. In Family Relations (pp. 534-548).
• Kelley, H. H., Marks, L., & Dollahite, D. (2019). Uniting and dividing influences of religion in marriage: Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.
• Marks, L., Dollahite, D., Hatch, T., & Goodman, M. (forthcoming). The real Book of Mormon musical: Latter-day Saint Family Home Evening as a weekly ritual. In Marriage and Family Review.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2019). Exploring relational reconciliation processes in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim families. Family Relations, 68, 517-533.
• Dollahite, D. (2019). Bishop Interviews in the LDS Church. In . Uplift: A Community of Faith.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2019). Positive youth religious and spiritual development: What we have learned from religious families. Religions, 10, 21.
• Dollahite, D. C. (2019). What We Can Learn From Ritual and Tradition in American Jewish Families. Meridian.
• Dollahite, D. C. (2019). Faithful Fathering: Ten Narratives of Wisdom from Fathers of Different Faiths. Meridian.
• Marks, L. D., & Dollahite, D. (2019). The family that prays together stays together. World Family Map 2019: Mapping Family Change and Child Well-Being Outcomes, 40-43.
• Dollahite, D. C. (2019). Family Prayer: A Sacred Time and a Sacred Space – Findings from a National Study. Meridian.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2018). Why religion helps and harms families: A conceptual model of a system of dualities at the nexus of faith and family life. Journal of Family Theory and Review, 10, 219-241.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2017). Relational struggles and experiential immediacy in religious American families: Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. American Psychological Association.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2017). Transcendence matters: Do the ways family members experience God meaningfully relate to family life?. Review of Religious Research, 60, 23-47.
• Dollahite, D., & Marks, L. (2017). Beyond the bucket list: Identity-centered religious calling, being, and action among parents. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 10, 44-54.
• Dollahite, D. C. (2016). Christianity and families. The encyclopedia of family studies, 1, 345-351.
• Dollahite, D. (2015). Sabbath observance: Families can learn to “make the Sabbath “a delight. Deseret News, 2.
• Hardy, S., & Dollahite, D. (2015). Adolescent motivations to engage in prosocial behaviors and abstain from health-risk behaviors: A self-determination theory approach.. Journal of Personality, 83, 479-490.
• Dollahite, D., & Hardy, S. (2013). Adolescent and parent perceptions of the influence of religious belief and practice. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 32(3), 192-205.
• Bowman, J., & Dollahite, D. (2013). “Why would such a person dream about heaven?”: A Qualitative Look at Arranged Marriage in India. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 43(2), 207-225.
• Hardy, S., & Dollahite, D. (2012). Religious exploration among highly-religious American adolescents. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 12(2), 157-184.
• Marks, L. D., Dollahite, D., & Jacob, J. (2012). Faith and prayer in family life. Strengthening our families: An in-depth look at the proclamation on the family(2nd Ed.).
• Hawkins, A., Dollahite, D., & Draper, T. (2012). Successful Marriages and Families: Proclamation Principles and Research Perspectives. Successful Marriages and Families: Proclamation Principles and Research Perspectives, 371.
• Fackrell, T. A., Poulsen, F. O., Busby, D., & Dollahite, D. (2011). Coming to Terms with Parental Divorce: Associations with Marital Outcomes and the Role of Gender and Religiosity. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 52, 435-454.
• Dollahite, D., Larson, T., & Speakman, M. (forthcoming). Religion and Family: Connections and Gaps in the Discourse of Social Scientists and Religious Leaders. Review of Religious Research.
• Lambert, N., & Dollahite, D. (2010). Development of the Faith Activities in the Home Scale (FAITHS). JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES, 31(11), 1442-1464.
• Marks, L. D., & Dollahite, D. (2010). In God we trust: Qualitative findings on finances, family, and faith from a diverse sample of U.S. families. FAMILY RELATIONS, 59, 439-452.
• Loser, R., Hill, E., Klein, S., & Dollahite, D. (2009). Perceived Benefits of Religious Rituals in the Latter-day Saint Home. REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS RESEARCH (JCR 5-year Impact Factor = .703), 50(3), 345-362.
• Hill, E., Whyte, R. O., Jacob, J. I., Blanchard, V., Duncan, S., Dollahite, D., & Wadsworth, L. (2008). Fathers' religious and family involvement at home: Work and family outcomes. Open Family Studies Journal, 1, 56-65.