Personal Spirituality Deters Teen Alcohol Use

By BuddyT

Teens who have an active spiritual life are half as likely to become alcoholics or drug addicts or even try illegal drugs that those who have no religious beliefs or training, research shows.

Previous studies have indicated that being spiritual or religious may help persons recovering from substance abuse overcome their addictions later in life, but this new study suggests that adolescents are much less likely to ever develop those problems, if they have a spiritual foundation when they are young.

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"Alcoholism, in addition to being a biological disorder, is a spiritual disorder," lead author Dr. Lisa Miller reported. "Adolescents who claim to have a personal relationship with the Divine are only half as likely to become alcoholics or drug addicts, or for that matter even to try contraband drugs (marijuana and cocaine). This is particularly important because onset of alcoholism and drug addiction usually occurs in adolescents."

Less Likely to Drink, Do Drugs

To determine the relationship between their religiosity and substance use of 676 adolescents aged 15 to 19, Miller and colleagues at Columbia University conducted a study using survey data. This is the first study to show that personal spirituality strongly protects against ever developing alcoholism or drug abuse.

The study shows that teens with a higher degree of personal devotion, personal conservatism, and institutional conservatism were less likely to engage in alcohol consumption and less likely to engage in marijuana or cocaine use.

"The findings show that a personal sense of spirituality helps adolescents avoid alcohol and drug use and abuse," Miller told Reuters. "Unlike adults in (Alcoholics Anonymous), adolescents in this study were shown not to be helped by a rigid or forced adherence to religion."

Spiritual, Not Religious

In other words, "religion" forced upon adolescents by their parents or others has little effect, but if teens have made a personal choice to pursue a spiritual life, they are much less likely to drunk and drug.

"Spirituality, whether within or without of religion, is the most central baring in an adolescent's life," Miller emphasized. "It cannot be ignored by parents, or the adolescent will go 'shopping' for meaning, communion and transcendence," she said.

The study authors concluded that adolescents at high risk might be protected from substance dependence or abuse if they engage with a Higher Power or become involved in a religious community.

The survey question teens about their personal devotion, personal conservatism, and institutional conservatism defined as "representing an active personal relationship with the Divine, representing a personal choice to teach and adhere closely to creed, in some cases initiated through a 'born-again' experience, and as the degree of fundamentalism in a religious denomination."

^{Source: Miller, L, et al. "Religiosity and Substance Use and Abuse Among Adolescents in the National Comorbidity Survey." Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry September 2000.}

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