The Religious Impact on Adults with Substance Abuse: Examination from U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

Background: Existing research investigating religiosity and substance use provides limited information about the stability or change of individuals’ religious profiles over time and how this relates to the long-term patterns of substance use since previous research investigating religious profiles and their relationships with substance use mostly has utilized cross-sectional designs. Therefore, the current study aimed to assess the longitudinal patterns of multifaceted religious profiles and their relationships with illegal substance abuse among young people transitioning from adolescence to early adulthood.

Methods. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 data, the current study employed the logistic regression analysis with a novel longitudinal approach that integrated cutting-edge unsupervised and supervised learning techniques to identify the patterns of religious beliefs and behaviors and their relationships with illegal substance abuse. Our study focused on data collected during Wave 6, where participants were between 18 and 22 years old, and Wave 15, where participants were between 27 and 31 years old. The total sample of participants was 4,261. The independent variable was religious profiles captured by objective and subjective religiosity. The dependent variable was the assessment of illegal substance abuse by focusing on marijuana use and hard drug use.

Results. The strongest protective effect from religious regulars (B = -0.90, p < 0.001) was found among religiously devoted adults, followed by privately religious adults (B = -0.23, p < 0.01). Religiously devoted adults, characterized by high in both objective and subjective religiosity, were the most resistant to illegal substance abuse, followed by religious regulars and then privately religious adults.

Conclusion/Implication. This study suggested that religiosity tends to be protective, but its effects were most clearly marked among young people most profoundly devoted to religious beliefs and behaviors. Subjective or objective religiosity alone might not be sufficient to prevent illegal substance abuse among emerging adults. Furthermore, emerging adults might focus more on developing their personal beliefs and spiritual experiences, which were components of subjective religiosity. They might be interested in exploring alternative spiritual practices, seeking new experiences and knowledge, and integrating various aspects of their identities into their spiritual lives. One important consideration was the heterogeneity of religiosity, which suggested that prevention efforts must consider the complexity of religiosity profiles among young people. Focusing on any single component of religiosity might be insufficient in preventing substance abuse among this population. Instead, interventions should aim to understand the intrinsic, extrinsic, and social facets of religiosity and use a comprehensive approach to target substance abuse. In light of these findings, it is essential for youth development workers and organizations to avoid oversimplifying religiosity as a singular, decontextualized protective factor. Rather, it is crucial to acknowledge and understand the multifaceted nature of religiosity as a complex experience element among young people. By adopting a comprehensive approach that takes into account the various dimensions of religiosity, prevention and intervention efforts may be more effective in reducing substance abuse among young people.