“Research investigating the relationship between religious commitment and drug use consistently indicates that those young people who are seriously involved in religion are more likely to abstain from drug use than those who are not; moreover, among users, religious youth are less likely than non-religious youth to use drugs heavily” – Gerald Bachman
Alcohol intake is a ubiquitous fact of life. In the United States 87% of adults reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime; 71% reported that they drank in the past year; 56% reported that they drank in the past month. If alcohol intake is tempered by moderation and caution it can be enjoyed and may be potentially beneficial. But as alcohol intake gets out of control it can lead to binge drinking and alcoholism. It is reported that 25% of U.S. adults reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the last month and 7% have what is termed an alcohol use disorder.
This is troubling as it can be very dangerous and potentially fatal. Nearly 88,000 people in the US and 3.3 million globally die from alcohol-related causes annually, making it the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Drunk driving accounted for over 10,000 deaths; 31% of all driving fatalities. Excessive alcohol intake has been shown to contribute to over 200 diseases including alcohol dependence, liver cirrhosis, cancers, and injuries. It is estimated that over 5% of the burden of disease and injury worldwide is attributable to alcohol consumption. So, clearly, it is important to control excessive alcohol intake.
Spirituality and religiosity have been shown to be associated with successful treatment and relapse prevention with substance abuse in general including alcoholism. Alcohol intake and binge drinking rates are higher in sexual minorities than in heterosexuals, especially women. So, it makes sense to further investigate the relationship of spirituality and religiosity with alcohol intake in sexual minority women. In today’s Research News article “Religiosity as a protective factor for hazardous drinking and drug use among sexual minority and heterosexual women: Findings from the National Alcohol Survey”
Drabble and colleagues revisit a major national survey of alcohol intake patterns and investigate participation in religion and alcohol intake in sexual minority women.
They found that sexual minority women had significantly higher rates of drug use in general including alcohol intake, higher rates of hazardous drinking and lower rates of being lifetime abstainers from alcohol. Sexual minority women had significantly lower rates of high religiosity and participation in religions that had norms unfavorable to alcohol intake. This was particularly true with lesbian women. So, sexual minority women are more likely to drink and misuse alcohol and are less religious than heterosexual women. They also found that religiosity was associated with higher rates of lifetime abstinence of alcohol regardless of sexual orientation. But, religiosity and participation in religions that had norms unfavorable to alcohol intake were associated with lower rates of hazardous alcohol or illicit drug use in heterosexual women but not in sexual minority women. So, religiosity appears to have less of an impact on alcohol intake in sexual minority women than heterosexual women.
Why is religiosity associated with lower overall and hazardous use of alcohol? One possible reason is that religions in general have negative teachings about alcohol. Buddhism teaches that intoxication is an impediment to spiritual development. Other religions completely prohibit alcohol while many decry the behaviors that occur during alcoholic stupor. This provides a cognitive incompatibility between drinking and religiosity. The recognition that drinking is not an OK thing to do might provide the extra motivation to help withstand the cravings. In addition, religious groups tend to be populated with non-alcoholics. So, increased religiosity also tends to shift the individual’s social network away from drinking buddies to people less inclined to provide temptation. It is very difficult to not drink when those around you are not only drinking themselves but encouraging you to drink. So shifting social groups to people who either abstain or demonstrate controlled drinking can help tremendously.
But, why does religiosity appear to have a smaller effect on sexual minority women than heterosexual women? One possibility is that many religions are associated with negative teachings regarding homosexuality. For sexual minority women, their rejection of these teachings may generalize to affect their adherence to the other teaching of the religion including alcohol intake. As a result, being religious has less of an impact on alcohol and drug use for these women. It would be interesting to investigate the relationship of religiosity and alcohol intake in sexual minority women who belong to religions that are very tolerant to homosexuality versus religions who are intolerant.
Regardless, protects against alcohol and drug abuse with religiosity.
“Religious involvement can protect against substance use by providing opportunities for prosocial activities, which themselves may promote antidrug conduct norms, and for interaction with nondeviant peers. Youth who are involved in religious activities tend to form peer groups with youth who are involved in similar activities, and they are less likely to form friendships with deviant peers.” – Flavio Marsiglia
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies
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