wfn.org | Personal Spirituality Prevents From Drug Abuse

[APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com]

August 30, 2000
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD

Teens with Personal Religious Beliefs Less Likely to 
Abuse Drugs, Alcohol

Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A.      Personal 
spirituality prevents adolescents from developing 
alcoholism or abusing drugs, according to new study 
results from Columbia University in New York. 

Teenagers with personal religious beliefs are half 
as likely to become alcoholics or drug addicts, the 
study reports. A more personal degree of devotion, 
personal
 conservatism, and institutional conservatism are 
factors that contribute to the lower risk. 

The correlation between religion and substance abuse 
was much higher in the present study of adolescents 
than in previous adult studies.

"Religious beliefs are protective," said Dr. Gary 
Hopkins. "I think we've always had this notion." 
Hopkins, director of the Center for Behavioral 
Research at Andrews University, has conducted 
similar studies of Seventh-day Adventist youth. 

The Columbia study, however, shows for the first 
time that personal spirituality protects against 
ever developing addiction to alcohol or drugs, 
according to Lisa Miller, lead author. The Journal 
of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent 
Psychiatry published the results in September.

Survey authors considered how personal devotion and 
personal conservatism affect a teen's chance of 
developing drug or alcohol habits. They defined 
these as showing an active personal relationship 
with the Divine, showing a personal choice to teach 
and adhere closely to creed, and the degree of 
fundamentalism in their religious denomination. 

Teenagers with an active and personal relationship 
with a "Higher Power" and who were of a 
fundamentalist denomination were found to be less 
likely to engage in marijuana or cocaine use, the 
study also found.

Personal devotion and institutional conservatism 
were also inversely associated with substance 
dependence or abuse. 

The study differentiated between a forced adherence 
to religion and a personal sense of spirituality, 
the latter being most effective in prevention. The 
study concluded that high-risk adolescents could be 
protected if they "engage with a Higher Power or 
become involved in a religious community."	

A community of faith has already been shown to help 
in prevention, according to Dr. Duane McBride, chair 
of the behavioral sciences program at Andrews 
University. McBride has conducted several studies 
about how substance abuse relates to religion. 

"We have studied the correlation for decades," 
McBride says. "But most researchers are secular. 
They often don't understand religious values."

McBride and Hopkins have completed a new study about 
substance abuse and religion. The results will be 
published later this year. 

Hopkins believes, based on previous and current 
research, that relationships formed, inside or 
outside a faith community, also help teens refrain 
from substance abuse. "If it's about beliefs, all 
you have to do is teach beliefs," Hopkins said. "But 
it's not what you know, it's the relationships you 
have." 

"Kids don't lack information, they lack caring," he 
said. (257/2000)