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Are Religiosity and Spirituality Useful Constructs in Drug Treatment Research?

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Abstract

Religiosity and spirituality (R/S) have been shown to be related to better outcomes in many health service areas, including drug abuse treatment. The latter area, however, lacks a fully emergent empirical framework to guide further study. Moreover, although scientists have tested isolated hypotheses, no comprehensive process model has been designed and validated, limiting conceptual development as well. This paper reviews the relevant R/S and health research literature with a primary focus on drug treatment processes. Then a conceptual model is suggested to guide future incremental study of R/S assessment and intervention development. Implications for addiction health services include increased efforts to empirically validate R/S interventions, to increase practitioner competencies in this area, and to disseminate relevant research findings.

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Acknowledgments

The authors were supported by grant R01 DA10422 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Dr. Anglin is also supported by NIDA Senior Research Scientist Award K05 DA00146.

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  1. Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, 1640 S. Sepulveda Boulevard, Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA, 90025-7535, USA

    Douglas Longshore PhD, M. Douglas Anglin PhD & Bradley T. Conner PhD

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  1. Douglas Longshore PhD
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Correspondence to M. Douglas Anglin PhD.

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Douglas Longshore died December 2005.

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Longshore, D., Anglin, M.D. & Conner, B.T. Are Religiosity and Spirituality Useful Constructs in Drug Treatment Research?. J Behav Health Serv Res 36, 177–188 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-008-9152-0

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