A Systematic Review of Recent Literature on Religiosity and Substance Use

Abstract

This paper contains a systematic review of articles about the relationship between religiosity/spirituality and alcohol and drug use that were published between 1997 and 2006. Summaries of methodological characteristics (e.g., study design, sample size and composition, specific dimensions of religiosity, and substances investigated) and general findings of 105 studies provide an overview of the field. The association between religiosity/spirituality and reduced risk of substance use is well established, but a well defined body of knowledge on this relationship has been slow to emerge. The development of more sophisticated instrumentation to measure religiosity and spirituality, the investigation of samples that include users of major drugs of abuse, and the integration of the study of religion and drug use into the broader literature on religion and health can help the field build upon the considerable work that has been published.