Religiosity as a Protective Factor for Hazardous Drinking and Drug Use among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Women
OBJECTIVE:
Despite
research documenting disparities in risk for alcohol-related problems among
sexual minority women, few studies explore potential protective factors within
this population. This study examines how religiosity may function as a
protective or risk factor for alcohol-problems or other substance use among
sexual minorities compared to heterosexuals.
METHOD:
Data from
11,169 women who responded to sexual identity and sexual behavior questions
from three population-based National Alcohol Survey waves (2000, 2005, 2010)
were utilized for analyses of religiosity in relation to lifetime drinking,
past year hazardous drinking, and past year drug use.
RESULTS:
Religiosity
was significantly greater among exclusively heterosexual women compared to all
sexual minority groups (lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual women who report
same sex partners). Lesbians reported the lowest rates of affiliation with
religions/denominations discouraging alcohol use. Past year hazardous drinking
and use of any illicit drugs were significantly lower among exclusively
heterosexual women compared to all sexual minority groups. High religiosity was
associated with lifetime alcohol abstention and was found to be protective
against hazardous drinking and drug use among both sexual minority and
heterosexual women. Reporting religious norms unfavorable to drinking was
protective against hazardous drinking among exclusively heterosexual women but
not sexual minority women.
CONCLUSIONS:
Findings
reveal the importance of considering sexual minority status in evaluation of
religion or spirituality as protective among women. Future studies should
explore religiosity in the context of other individual and environmental
factors, such as positive identity development and community-level acceptance,
which may be salient to resiliency among sexual minorities.
- 1San José State University School of Social Work, One Washington Square, San José, CA 95192-0124, United States. Electronic address: laurie.drabble@sjsu.edu.
- 2Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute, 6475 Christie Ave. Suite 400, Emeryville, CA 94608, United States. Electronic address: ktrocki@arg.org.
- 3Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute, 6475 Christie Ave. Suite 400, Emeryville, CA 94608, United States. Electronic address: jklinger@arg.org.
- Drug Alcohol Depend. 2016 Feb 2. pii: S0376-8716(16)00050-8. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.01.022.
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