New Studies Find Religious Involvement Strengthens Protective Factors

Addressing a recent conference hosted by The Heritage Foundation, Dr. Byron Johnson, Co-Director of the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, and Dr. Joon Jang, Associate Professor of Sociology, Baylor University, addressed "The Long-Term Effects of Religious Involvement on Drug Use."

Presenting at the conference Religious Practice and Civic Life: What the Research Says, held earlier this month in Arlington, VA, Drs. Johnson, and Jang reported findings from a study funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention on the role religion plays in prosocial youth behavior. The findings indicate that religiosity during adolescence and early adulthood strengthens protective factors and weakens risk factors that promote drug use.

Other studies presented at the conference noted similar findings. Dr. John Wallace, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh, reported that the higher students’ level of religiosity, the less likely they are to binge drink or use marijuana, while Dr. Scott A. Desmond, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Purdue University, and colleagues, reported that adolescents’ religiosity had a significant positive association with self control, and both religion and self control are related to fewer delinquent behaviors such as marijuana and alcohol use.

These recent studies track with previous findings. In 1992, Drs. Richard F. Catalano and J. David Hawkins, of the Social Development Research Group (SDRG) cited spirituality and volunteerism as protective factors for youth substance abuse prevention. The Handbook of Religion and Health reported that 147 studies out of 175 found religion to be a deterrent to alcohol or drug abuse in children in 2001. That same year, the National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University released their report entitled “So Help Me God.” This report found that teens who do not consider religious beliefs important are: 3 times as likely to drink, binge drink and smoke; 4 times as likely to use marijuana; and 7 times as likely to use illicit drugs.

The Drug-Free Communities support program cites the faith community as one of the 12 major community sectors that coalitions should involve in their prevention efforts. In partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, CADCA developed 2 Strategizers on engaging this critical sector: Strategizer 45: Research Findings on Coalitions and the Faith Community and Strategizer 46: Programs and Collaboration Between Coalitions and the Faith Community. Both publications are available through CADCA’s website.