Religiosity and Adolescent Substance Use: Evidence From the National Survey on Drug Use and Health

    Authors

    J. A. Ford;T. D. Hill

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Subst. Use Misuse

    Keywords

    adolescence; religiosity; substance use; AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS; FACE-TO-FACE; ALCOHOL-USE; MARIJUANA USE; SELF-REPORT; JUVENILE ARRESTEES; GENDER-DIFFERENCES; FUTURE-DIRECTIONS; COLLEGE-STUDENTS; COCAINE USE; Substance Abuse; Psychiatry; Psychology

    Abstract

    Prior research indicates that religiosity is associated with lower levels of substance use in adolescence. The extant research, however, is limited by issues related to data quality and analytic strategy. The current research uses the National Survey on Drug Use and Health to further our understanding of the nature of the relationship between religiosity and substance use during adolescence. Results show that religiosity reduces the odds of tobacco use, heavy drinking, prescription drug misuse, marijuana use, and other illicit drug use. These associations are partially explained by respondent and peer attitudes toward substance use and, to a lesser extent, respondent psychological wellbeing. The influence of respondent substance use attitude is especially pronounced, explaining between 41% (marijuana) and 53% (tobacco) of the association between religiosity and substance use. In fully adjusted models, all mediators account for between 46% (marijuana) and 59% (tobacco) of the association between religiosity and substance use.

    Journal Title

    Substance Use & Misuse

    Volume

    47

    Issue/Number

    7

    Publication Date

    1-1-2013

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    787

    Last Page

    798

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000303332500003

    ISSN

    1082-6084

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