Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Alcohol Use in College: The Relationship Between Religion, Spirituality, and Proscriptive Attitudes Toward Alcohol

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Developing interventions to address the problem of college drinking requires the identification of contributing factors to drinking behavior. It is believed that religion and spirituality (R/S) play a role, but the mechanism is unclear. Using a multi-dimensional R/S measure, an alcohol behavior inventory, and a religious affiliation proscription question, this study was designed to dive deeper into this connection. This study found that religious singing/chanting and reading sacred text were the best predictors of lower alcohol consumption. Furthermore, participants who perceive their religious tradition to be proscriptive reported less alcohol consumption and higher religious/spiritual profiles.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Astin, A. W., & Astin, H. S. (2010). Exploring and nurturing the spiritual life of college students. Journal of College and Character, 11, 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bock, E. W., Cochran, J. K., & Beeghley, L. (1987). Moral messages: The relative influence of denomination of the religiosity-alcohol relationship. The Sociological Quarterly, 28, 89–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chawla, N., Neighbors, C., Lewis, M. A., Lee, C. M., & Larimer, M. E. (2007). Attitudes and perceived approval of drinking as mediators of the relationship between the importance of religion and alcohol use. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 68, 410–418.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, C. G., Thake, J., & Vilhena, N. (2010). Social desirability biases in self-reported alcohol consumption and harms. Addictive Behaviors, 35, 302–311.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, C. G., Bradshaw, M., Rote, S., Storch, J., & Trevino, M. (2008). Religion and alcohol use among college students: Exploring the role of domain-specific religious salience. Journal of Drug Issues, 8, 821–846.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fetzer Institute/National Institute on Aging Working Group (Fetzer/NIA). (1999). Multidimensional measurement of religiousness, spirituality for use in health research. Kalamazoo, MI: Fetzer Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, B. E. U. (2010). To drink or not to drink: The role of religion and family in drinking patterns among emerging adults, doctoral dissertation. Retrieved from ProQuest dissertations and theses full text (3441446).

  • Fitchett, G., Murphy, P., Kim, J., Gibbons, J., Cameron, J., & Davis, J. (2004). Religious struggle: Prevalence, correlates and mental health risks in diabetic, congestive heart failure, and oncology patients. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 34(2), 179–196.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Galen, L. W., & Rogers, W. M. (2004). Religiosity, alcohol expectancies, drinking motives and their interaction in the prediction of drinking among college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 65, 469–476.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church. (2008). A call to action on alcohol. book of resolutions, social principles. http://kintera.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=frLJK2PKLqF&b=6331443&ct=7569299&notoc=1.

  • Gomez, R., & Fisher, J. W. (2003). Domains of spiritual well-being and development and validation of the spiritual well-being questionnaire. Personality and Individual Differences, 35, 1975–1991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, D. E., Meador, K. G., & Koenig, H. G. (2008). Measuring religiousness in health research: Review and critique. Journal of Religion and Health, 47, 134–163.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ham, L. S., & Hope, D. A. (2003). College students and problematic drinking: A review of the literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 23, 719–759.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Higher Education Research Institute (HERI). (2004). College students’ beliefs and values (CSBV) survey methodology. http://spirituality.ucla.edu/docs/results/freshman/Appendix_Methodology.pdf.

  • Higher Education Research Institute (HERI). (2005). The spiritual life of college students: A national study of college students’ search for meaning and purpose. Los Angeles, CA: University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hingston, R. W., Zha, W., & Weitzman, E. R. (2009). Magnitude of and trends in alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18–24, 1998–2005. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 16, 12–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, T. J., Sheets, V. L., & Kristeller, J. L. (2008a). Empirical identification of dimensions of religiousness and spirituality. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 11, 745–767.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, T. J., Sheets, V. L., & Kristeller, J. L. (2008b). Identifying mediators of the relationship between religiousness/spirituality and alcohol use. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 69, 160–170.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mayrl, D., & Oeur, F. (2009). Religion and higher education: Current knowledge and directions for future research. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 48, 260–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menagi, F. S., Harrell, Z. A. T., & June, L. N. (2008). Religiousness and college student alcohol use: Examining the role of social support. Journal of Religion and Health, 47, 217–226.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Michalak, L., Trocki, K., & Bond, J. (2007). Religion and alcohol in the U.S. national alcohol survey: How important is religion for abstention and drinking? Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 87, 268–280.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nagel, E., & Sgoutas-Emch, S. (2007). The relationship between spirituality, health beliefs and health behaviors in college students. Journal of Religion and Health, 46, 141–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patock-Peckham, J. A., Hutchinson, G. T., Cheong, J., & Nagoshi, C. T. (1998). Effect of religion and religiosity on alcohol use in a college student sample. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 49, 81–88.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • VonDras, D. D., Schmitt, R. R., & Marx, D. (2007). Associations between aspects of spiritual well-being, alcohol use, and related social-cognitions in female college students. Journal of Religion and Health, 46, 500–551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sandra Sgoutas-Emch.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kathol, N., Sgoutas-Emch, S. Alcohol Use in College: The Relationship Between Religion, Spirituality, and Proscriptive Attitudes Toward Alcohol. J Relig Health 56, 437–449 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0210-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0210-2

Keywords

Navigation