Religiosity and substance abuse: need for systematic research.Religion plays a significant role in human life, yet its potential to influence health and health-related conditions is not well studied. Becker (2001) contends that there are several words like "spirituality," "faith," and "divinity" that have been used in the literature along with religion and while these terms appear similar, they cannot be used interchangeably. She says that spirituality refers to the soul or mind and is not tangible and a highly subjective experience. Divinity is about presence of a divine power. Faith can exist without belief of divine power and is unconditional confidence in something. Religion is a system of beliefs unified by acceptance of a divine or superhuman su·per·hu·man adj. 1. Above or beyond the human; preternatural or supernatural. 2. Beyond ordinary or normal human ability, power, or experience: "soldiers driven mad by superhuman misery" power. Religiosity re·li·gi·os·i·ty n. 1. The quality of being religious. 2. Excessive or affected piety. Noun 1. religiosity - exaggerated or affected piety and religious zeal religiousism, pietism, religionism is usually familial and is shaped by religious beliefs of parents, peer group, and community. Religion is multidimensional. However, religion has been insufficiently operationalized in the published literature. The most common construct of religion that has been reified has been affiliation (Gartner, Larson, & Allen, 1991). Other dimensions Other Dimensions is a collection of stories by author Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1970 and was the author's sixth collection of stories published by Arkham House. It was released in an edition of 3,144 copies. such as importance, extent of devotion and beliefs also need to be considered. First of all, for research of religiosity on alcohol and substance abuse there is a need for more multidimensional, valid, and reliable instruments. Secondly, definitive empirical studies Empirical studies in social sciences are when the research ends are based on evidence and not just theory. This is done to comply with the scientific method that asserts the objective discovery of knowledge based on verifiable facts of evidence. have not been undertaken that delineate the influence of religion on substance abuse (Gartner, Larson, & Allen, 1991; Larson & Larson, 1994). In general, studies that have used religious affiliation have found an inverse relationship A inverse or negative relationship is a mathematical relationship in which one variable decreases as another increases. For example, there is an inverse relationship between education and unemployment — that is, as education increases, the rate of unemployment between religiosity and attitudes toward drinking, knowledge about alcohol, amount of alcohol consumed, and physical complications of alcohol abuse (Dunn, 2005; Zucker, Austin, Fair, & Branchey, 1987). Most of the studies are cross-sectional in nature and what are needed are longitudinal studies longitudinal studies, n.pl the epidemiologic studies that record data from a respresentative sample at repeated intervals over an extended span of time rather than at a single or limited number over a short period. . Further studies are needed that elaborate the mechanism by which religiosity operates to influence substance abuse: whether it is a direct causative caus·a·tive adj. 1. Functioning as an agent or cause. 2. Expressing causation. Used of a verb or verbal affix. caus role, or a buffer-like role, or some other form of effect modification effect modification Epidemiology An interaction among multiple possible cause-and-effect relationships, where the estimate of the effect of one factor on a disease process depends on other factors in the study . One study that has utilized a broader definition of religiosity is by Kendler and colleagues (1997) who studied the relationship between religiosity and substance abuse in a sample of 1,902 twins. They utilized several scales including a 10-item scale of different religious beliefs and behaviors, and a scale of institutional conservatism of current religious affiliation. They found that personal devotion and personal and institutional conservatism were significantly and inversely associated with current levels of drinking and smoking as well as lifetime risk for alcoholism and nicotine dependence. Another study by Cronin (1995) examined the relationship among religious affiliation, importance of religious values, and alcohol and drug use among college students (n = 216). The study found that religious affiliation played the strongest role in predicting drug use. In addition, the study found that alcohol consumption did not differ among various groups defined by religious affiliation. Another study by Brizer (1993) examined the role of religiosity on alcohol and drug abuse in an inpatient psychiatric population (n = 168). The author developed a three-page religious involvement questionnaire (RIQ RIQ Reconstructed Image Quality ), which is an extension of the religious interest questionnaire (Kroll & Sheehan, 1989) and describes intrinsic and extrinsic EVIDENCE, EXTRINSIC. External evidence, or that which is not contained in the body of an agreement, contract, and the like. 2. It is a general rule that extrinsic evidence cannot be admitted to contradict, explain, vary or change the terms of a contract or of a religiosity. The RIQ also includes six items that rate the patients' belief upon their behavior (for example, I avoid certain food/music/drink because of my religion) and six items from the social cohesiveness scale that rates the strength of subjects' affiliation with co-members of their faith. The subjects were also asked to complete a four-item drug use scale that quantified drug and alcohol use during the preceding month and year. The study found that alcohol and drug use were negatively correlated with measures of religiosity The third aspect of religiosity and substance abuse pertains to use of religious organizations as vectors for substance abuse prevention messages. While some work has been done in this regard (Becker, 2001) yet more systematic effort needs to be undertaken. Health education and health promotion interventions that involve religious organizations for promoting substance abuse-related messages need to be developed, implemented, and evaluated. Such intervention research would be vital in furthering the linkage between religiosity and substance abuse. In conclusion, it can be said that three levels of research are needed in the area of religiosity and substance abuse. Firstly, there is need for developing multidimensional, valid and reliable religiosity scales. Secondly, there is need for longitudinal, empirical studies that examine the role of religiosity and substance abuse in a variety of subpopulations. Finally, there is a need for intervention research that develops and evaluates interventions that utilize religious organizations for information dissemination and behavior change Behavior change refers to any transformation or modification of human behavior. Such changes can occur intentionally, through behavior modification, without intention, or change rapidly in situations of mental illness. with regard to substance abuse prevention and cessation. References Becker, D. M. (2001). Public health and religion. In N. Schneiderman, M. A. Speers, J. M. Silva, H. Tomes & J. H. Gentry (Eds.), Integrating behavioral and social sciences with public health (pp. 351-368). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is a professional organization representing psychology in the US. Description and history The association has around 150,000 members and an annual budget of around $70m. . Brizer, D. A. (1993). Religiosity and drug abuse among psychiatric inpatients. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 19, 337-345. Cronin, C. (1995). Religiosity, religious affiliation, and alcohol and drug use among American college American College is the name of:
Dunn, M. S. (2005). The relationship between religiosity; employment, and political beliefs on substance use among high school seniors. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, 49(1), 73-88. Gartner, J. Larson, D. B., & Allen, G.D. (1991). Religious commitment and mental health: A review of the empirical literature. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 19, 6-25. Kendler, K. S., Gardner, C. O., & Prescott, C. A. (1997). Religion, psychopathology psychopathology /psy·cho·pa·thol·o·gy/ (-pah-thol´ah-je) 1. the branch of medicine dealing with the causes and processes of mental disorders. 2. abnormal, maladaptive behavior or mental activity. , and substance use and abuse; a multimeasure, genetic-epidemiologic study. American Journal of Psychiatry The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) is the most widely read psychiatric journal in the world. It covers topics on biological psychiatry, treatment innovations, forensic, ethical, economic, and social issues. , 154, 322-329. Kroll, J. K., & Sheehan, W. (1989). Religious beliefs and practices among 52 psychiatric inpatients in Minnesota. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 67-72. Larson, D. B., & Larson, S. S. (1994). The forgotten factor inphysical and mental health: What does the research show? An independent study seminar. Rockville, MD: National Institute for Health Care Research. Zucker, D. K., Austin, F., Fair, A., & Branchey L. (1987). Associations between patient religiosity and alcohol attitudes and knowledge in an alcohol treatment program. The International Journal of Addictions, 22, 47-53. Manoj Sharma, MBBS MBBS, MBChB n abbr (BRIT) (= Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) → título universitario MBBS, MBChB n abbr (Brit) (= Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) → , CHES, Ph.D. Editor, Journal of Alcohol & Drug Education University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati is a coeducational public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ranked as one of America’s top 25 public research universities and in the top 50 of all American research universities,[2] 526 Teachers College, PO Box 210002 Cincinnati, OH 45221-0002 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion