The Impact of Religious Group Attendance on Marijuana Use and Binge Drinking Among College Students

• In Event: Drug Use Trajectories: Risk and Protective Factors

Abstract

This study examines the effect of religious group attendance (e.g., Bible study, prayer group, etc.) on binge drinking and marijuana use among college students, above and beyond other dimensions of an individual’s religious faith and practice. This includes an examination of whether or not there are differential impacts of religious group attendance by religious affiliation, such as among self-identified Protestant, Catholic, “Other Religion,” and “No Religion” students. The analysis relies on data from the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR), a nationally representative study of adolescents and emerging adults that contains a rich set of measures of multiple dimensions of religious faith and practice, including religious affiliation.

Author

• Craig Rivera, Niagara University