Religiosity and Teen Drug Use Reconsidered - A Social Capital Perspective

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Volume 32, Issue 6, Supplement 1, June 2007, Pages S182-S194

Although religiosity has often been shown to have a deterrent effect on teen drug use, noteworthy theoretic gaps and contradictory findings have left important questions unanswered.

Levels of teen drug use for three different components of faith-based social capital—exposure to and internalization of religious norms, integration within religious networks, and trust in religious phenomena—are explored with respect to high school seniors’ use of alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs during the year prior to the survey.

Among religiosity variables, integration within congregational networks (i.e., worship service attendance) exhibits the most consistent negative association with youth drug use. Theistic trust is not associated with teen drug use, but secular trust and civic participation in secular organizations are associated with less drug use.

Elements of both religious and secular social capital are associated with lower reported drug use, thereby suggesting that multiple avenues for the prevention of teen drug use might be pursued. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

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Reprint Request E-mail: bartkowski@soc.msstate.edu

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