Still on religiosity and alcohol use

Lucchetti et al.¹ provided relatively good evidence of the consistent pattern of association found between some elements of religiosity and alcohol use. The large sample size and population-based design count as strengths of the study.

Understanding the negative relationship between religiosity and alcohol consumption sometimes highlights the need for more information, e.g., the proscriptive nature of respondents' religious affiliation. In certain non-Western countries, where some religious activities include heavy episodic drinking and ceremonial drinking bouts, it becomes more difficult to explain why regular attendance is associated with reduced alcohol consumption in those circumstances. This suggests there are possible confounders, e.g., cultural values, personality, and stressful life events, that interplay with religiosity to influence its impact on alcohol use.² It would be appreciated if the authors could provide more background information on the relationship between culture and religion in the study setting. This is because certain religious beliefs and practices, e.g., existence of God, are culturally sanctioned, as some societies - particularly in non-Western regions of the world - strongly discourage atheistic views. This could potentially affect the validity of the questions used to assess religiousness in this study.

One could also argue based on the “moral community hypothesis” that when religion is a clear characteristic of a society, persons that are not religious are less likely to conform to societal norms and views, including those related to drinking and other forms of high-risk behaviors.³ It is important to note, however, that the study of the association between religiousness and substance use has been hindered by the challenges of deconstructing the concept of religiosity in the past three decades. Sometimes, religiosity is confused with spirituality, which is a different but related construct. While religiosity relates to religious participation, affiliation, and association, spirituality is defined in terms of one's relationship with God.⁴

In view of these factors, there are advantages to measuring elements of both religiosity and spirituality in future studies. Though difficult, a prospective study of a cohort of individuals with clear religious affiliations and dimensions of spirituality and levels of participation would aid further understanding of the relationship between religiosity and alcohol use. Clearly, understanding the multidimensional construct of religiosity would facilitate its use in alcohol prevention and treatment efforts.

References

• ¹
  Lucchetti G, Koenig HG, Pinsky I, Laranjeira R, Vallada H. Religious beliefs and alcohol control policies: a Brazilian Nationwide study. Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2014;36:4-10.
• ²
  Wills TA, Yaeger AM, Sandy JM. Buffering effect of religiosity for adolescent substance use. Psychol Addict Behav. 2003;17:24-31.
• ³
  Cochran JK, Ronald LL. Beyond hellfire - an exploration of the variable effects of religiosity on adolescent marijuana and alcohol-use. JRCD. 1989;26:198-225.
• ⁴
  Miller WR. Researching the spiritual dimensions of alcohol and other drug problems. Addiction. 1998;93:979-90.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  Dec 2014

History

• Received
  25 Apr 2014
• Accepted
  27 Apr 2014