Is Religiosity a Protective Factor Against Substance Use in Young Adulthood? Only If You’re Straight

• Published in: Journal of adolescent health Vol. 40; no. 5; pp. 440 - 447
• Main Authors: Rostosky, Sharon S., Ph.D, Danner, Fred, Ph.D, Riggle, Ellen D.B., Ph.D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01-05-2007; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adolescent; Adolescents; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Age Distribution; Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Attitude to Health; Binge drinking; Biological and medical sciences; Bisexual; Child; Cigarette smoking; Cohort Studies; Confidence Intervals; Female; Gay; Health Behavior; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Lesbian; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Marijuana use; Medical sciences; Minority Groups - statistics & numerical data; Miscellaneous; Odds Ratio; Pediatrics; Prevalence; Probability; Protective factors; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychosexual Development; Religion; Religiosity; Risk Assessment; Sex Distribution; Sexual minority; Sexual orientation; Sexual Partners; Spirituality; Substance abuse; Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology; Substance-Related Disorders - prevention & control; Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; Toxicology; United States - epidemiology; United States; Binge drinking; Bisexual; Marijuana use; Sexual minority; Lesbian; Adolescents; Cigarette smoking; Gay; Human; Consumption; Belief; Sex; Religion; Protective factor; Substance abuse; Alcoholic beverage; Tobacco; Adolescent; Young adult; Risk factor; Marijuana; Sexual orientation; High dose
• ISSN: 1054-139X; 1879-1972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.11.144

Abstract Purpose Previous research has documented that substance use peaks during young adulthood and that religiosity provides a protective effect against binge drinking, marijuana use, and cigarette smoking. The majority of these studies do not examine sexual identity as it relates to these factors. Drawing on social influence and developmental theories, we tested the hypothesis that religiosity would provide a protective effect for heterosexual but not sexual minority young adults. Method Waves 1 and 3 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health provided data for the study. Three young adult sexual identity groups were formed: sexual minorities who did not report same-sex attraction at Wave 1 (NA), sexual minorities who did report same-sex attraction at Wave 1 (SSA), and heterosexuals (HET) (sample n = 764). Results Religiosity measured at baseline had no significant effect on past-year substance use, measured six years later in sexual minority young adults. For heterosexual young adults, each unit increase in religiosity reduced the odds of binge drinking by 9%, marijuana use by 20%, and cigarette smoking by 13%. Conclusions Religiosity was not protective against substance use in sexual minority young adults, cautioning against over-generalizing previous findings about the protective effects of religiosity. Future studies that 1) consider the social context for sexual identity development, 2) model both risk and protective factors, and 3) use multidimensional measures of religiosity (and spirituality) and sexual identity are needed to build the necessary knowledge base for effective health promotion efforts among sexual minority youth and young adults.