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Respondent-driven sampling of Muslim undergraduate U.S. college students and alcohol use: pilot study

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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Prevention of alcohol abuse requires information about all demographic groups. However, little is known about drinking among people affiliated with proscriptive religions due to omission of religious affiliation in many surveys and challenges sampling them. Our objective was to pilot a sampling technique frequently used in the HIV literature, respondent-driven sampling, to assess potential association of alcohol use with religiosity, personal proscriptive belief, and social influences among Muslim U.S. college students.

Methods

Self-identified Muslim undergraduate students (N = 156) at one urban commuter university completed a web-based survey.

Results

Prevalence adjusted for sampling was 9.1 % (95 % CI: 0.2–17.1 %) with in-group recruitment of 0.36 for drinkers and 0.43 for abstainers. In unadjusted analyses, students who were lifetime abstainers were more likely than drinkers to hold personal proscriptive belief and strongly agree with a measure of private religiosity. There was no difference on public religiosity measures between groups. Lifelong abstainers were more likely to report fewer students, fewer Muslim students, and fewer of their friends drank alcohol. They also were more likely to report that they attended high school with more Muslims and currently live in neighborhoods with more Muslims.

Conclusions

In this pilot study, lifetime abstinence was associated with high private religiosity, personal proscriptive religious beliefs, and more proscriptive social influences. The findings suggest that respondent-driven sampling may be feasible in recruiting Muslim students. However, validation against other sampling techniques is needed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dr. Thomas J. Johnson from Indiana State University and Dr. Cyprian Wejnert of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for their generous assistance. This work was supported by a grant from the Institute on Social and Public Policy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, 2761 E. Jefferson, Detroit, MI, 48207, USA

    Cynthia L. Arfken

  2. Family and Youth Institute, 42015 Ford Rd, #169, Canton, MI, 48187, USA

    Sameera Ahmed

  3. Adelphi University, One South Avenue, Garden City, NY, 11530, USA

    Wahiba Abu-Ras

Authors
  1. Cynthia L. Arfken
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  2. Sameera Ahmed
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  3. Wahiba Abu-Ras
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Correspondence to Cynthia L. Arfken.

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Arfken, C.L., Ahmed, S. & Abu-Ras, W. Respondent-driven sampling of Muslim undergraduate U.S. college students and alcohol use: pilot study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 48, 945–953 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-012-0588-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-012-0588-4

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