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Adolescents’ Religiousness and Substance Use Are Linked via Afterlife Beliefs and Future Orientation

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: Although religiousness has been identified as a protective factor against adolescent substance use, processes through which these effects may operate are unclear. The current longitudinal study examined sequential mediation of afterlife beliefs and future orientation in the relation between adolescent religiousness and cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use. Participants included 131 adolescents (mean age at Time 1 = 12 years) at three time points with approximately two year time intervals. Structural equation modeling indicated that higher religiousness at Time 1 was associated with higher afterlife beliefs at Time 2. Higher afterlife beliefs at Time 2 were associated with higher future orientation at Time 2, which in turn was associated with lower use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana at Time 3. Our findings highlight the roles of afterlife beliefs and future orientation in explaining the beneficial effects of religiousness against adolescent substance use.

Source: The Journal of Early Adolescence

DOI: 10.1177/0272431616642325

Authors: Christopher Holmes, Jungmeen Kim-Spoon

Institution: Virginia Tech

Language: English

Topic: Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute on Drug Abuse, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development