A Longitudinal Examination of the Relationship between Religious Service Attendance and Young Adult Substance Use

Background: Young adulthood is a time of increased substance use. Moreover, the use of substances such as cocaine and marijuana has increased among this general age group over the past decade. The epidemiological data underscore the need to identify protective influences on young adult substance use, such as religious service attendance. However, most of the extant research on service attendance and substance use is characterized by cross-sectional designs. The few prospective studies that exist are frequently limited to one gender, one or two ethnic/racial groups, or employ non-representative samples. Few, if any, studies have examined the protective effects of past religious services attendance during adolescence or childhood across racial/ethnic groups and genders, especially among young adults are no longer attending services. To advance our understanding of protective factors, the present longitudinal study examined the relationship between four types of religious service attendance and six measures of substance use among a nationally representative sample of emerging adults.

Methods: Study data were abstracted from Waves I (T1) and IV (T2) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) Surveys (N=14,800). The study’s outcome measures consisted of six items (i.e., four lifetime and two short-term measures) administered at Wave IV that represent four categories of substances use (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, meth, and other illicit drugs). The four types of religious service attendance were: a) never regularly attend; b) childhood (T1) attendance only; c) adulthood (T2) attendance only; and d) regular attendance (both T1 and T2). Multiple imputation was used to address the missing values. We then conducted a series of logistic regressions to examine the relationship between religious service attendance and adult substance use, while controlling for the individual, parental, and household level covariates.

Results: About half (54%) of young adults did not attend services in childhood and young adulthood, 27% attended services only in childhood, 7% attended church services only in young adulthood, and 11% regularly attended religious services at both waves. Regression results revealed service attendance was generally associated with a lower likelihood of lifetime and recent use across all measures examined at T2. Relative to the reference group (non-attenders at T1 and T2), the protective effects were largest for the consistent attendance group (OR=0.22 to 0.37; p<0.001), followed by the adult attendance only group (OR=0.29 to 0.72; p<0.01), and then the childhood attendance only group (OR=0.69 to 0.78; p<0.01).

Implications: The results imply that attending religious services may convey a protective effect regarding substance use, as well as many other detrimental outcomes. Practitioners in clinical settings might inquire about religious services attendance with clients during intake and assessment. To be clear, attending religious services should not be considered a treatment modality for substance use problems. Rather, the purpose of the assessment is to identify potential individual strengths or assets that could be part of a treatment plan, and should be to assist clients identify potential resources and sources of support to ameliorate problems and enhance wellness.