A review of research on the effects of religion on adolescent tobacco use published between 1990 and 2003.

A.J. Weaver, K.J. Flannelly & A.L. Strock, Adolescence, v.40, n.160, 2005, pp.761-76.

A number of studies have reported 'an inverse relationship between drug use and religious involvement among teens and young adults'. Here, researchers reviewed 29 studies on the relationship between religion and adolescent tobacco use to determine the 'nature and extent' of this relationship. Studies were selected from the results of several electronic database searches. These studies were categorised by the type of journal in which they appeared, their publication year and the 'number and kind of independent and dependent variables that were analysed'. When controlling for 'demographic and other factors that influence tobacco use', an inverse relationship between religious involvement and tobacco use was recorded in three-quarters of the studies analysed. Religion was found to have a 'relatively small' but 'very consistent' effect on adolescent tobacco use across the studies. Studies most frequently used self-reported measures of religiosity and church attendance as independent variables. Findings indicate that 'tobacco use prevention programs for teens would be a valuable activity for faith communities'.