Barna: Two in Three Teens Would Ask Jesus About Who They Are, but Parents Still Rank First

More than two in three American teenagers say they would feel comfortable going to Jesus for advice about who they are, but mothers, fathers and close friends still rank higher, according to new research from Barna, the Christian research firm, done with the youth ministry Christ In Youth.

The survey, part of Barna's report “Reimagining Ministry for Gen Alpha,” asked 1,500 U.S. teens ages 13 to 18 whom they would feel most comfortable asking about their identity. Mothers led at 84%, followed by fathers at 78% and close friends at 75%. Jesus drew 68%, adult mentors and teachers 67% each and the Bible 66%. Pastors drew 56% and youth pastors 51%.

Online sources ranked below every person on the list: 39% of teens said they would be comfortable turning to YouTube, and 35% each named social media and artificial intelligence. Seventy percent said they feel pressure to answer the question of who they really are.

Among teens Barna calls “Faith-Activated,” the most spiritually engaged in the survey, Jesus and the Bible tied for second at 78%, just behind mothers at 80%. Seventy-one percent of those teens were comfortable going to a youth pastor. The same group was also more open to technology: 46% strongly agreed AI is a safe place to ask questions, compared with 28% of all teens.

“When students are questioning who they are, they're going to go somewhere,” said Richard Hamilton, youth pastor at Castle Hills Christian Church, who told Barna that a youth ministry's job is to make sure a trusted adult, not an algorithm, is there. Youth ministry leader Deborah Spooner said, “Students are listening more than it seems.”

Barna surveyed the teens online Feb. 14-17, 2026, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points. Barna posted the findings Oct. 26, and The Christian Post reported on them Nov. 3.