After documenting the spiritual trajectory of Catholic adolescents over a five-year span, researchers Christian Smith and Patricia Snell have identified some significant changes in the spirituality of Catholic youth after high school. (Souls in Transition: The Religious & Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults by Christian Smith and Patricia Snell, Oxford University Press, 2009)

• Catholics who said they were strongly affiliated fell from 24% in high school to 18% as young adults (a drop of 25%). And 20% of Catholic teens who were affiliated in high school say they are no longer religiously affiliated.
• Catholics who said they were very interested in learning more about their faith did not change from high school to young adulthood (21%). But the number not interested rose from 28% to 35%.
• Catholics who said their religion was very important fell from 42% in high school to 34% after high school.
• Only 15% of Catholics in high school said that their faith did not shape their lives. As young adults, 28% said it did not shape their lives.
• Weekly Mass attendance fell from 41% in high school to 15% as young adults. Those who never attend rose from 11% in high school to 36% as young adults.
• Those trying to practice a day of Sabbath fell from 35% to 23%.
• Daily prayer fell from 33% to 22%. Those who never pray rose from 11% to 20%. However, meditation increased 2%.
• Fasting stayed about the same during high school and young adulthood: 28%.
• Those who never read Scripture rose from 50% to 66%.
• Reading a spiritual book other than Scripture stayed the same: 22%.
• Singing or playing in a church choir fell from 20% while in high school to 9% after high school.
• Sharing faith with someone outside your religion fell from 41% to 36%
• Weekly religious education fell from 20% to 4%. Never attended rose from 39% to 77%.
• Belief in God fell from 85% to 80%.
• Those who felt extremely or very close to God fell from 32% in high school to 23% after high school. The percentage who said they felt distant from God rose from 4% in high school to 10% after high school.
• Belief in judgment day fell from 67% to 56%. And those not believing rose from 28% to 38%.
• Belief in angels decreased slightly to 51% while belief in demons increased to 38% (up 11%). Belief in miracles stayed about the same: 57%.
• 48% had no doubts about their religion (no change since high school), 6% had many doubts.
• 16% have become more religious since high school. 17% have become less religious. 66% said they had stayed about the same.
• 38% have experienced an answer to prayer or guidance from God since high school.
• 65% have religious beliefs like mom (down 9% since high school). 35% have different (up 9%)
• 58% have religious beliefs like dad (down 13%). 42% have different (up 13%).
• Finally, 69% of young adults claim that they have made a personal commitment to God. 85% of them said they had done so by the time they were 14 years old.

“It is not that what happens during teenage and emerging adult years does not matter, it is simply that what matters even more is what happens before the teenage years, which powerfully conditions most everything that happens thereafter.” (Souls in Transition, p. 248)