The Variable Effects of Religiosity and Denomination on Adolescent Self-Reported Alcohol Use by Beverage Type

Abstract

Homogeneous effects logistic regression is used to examine the effects of personal religiosity and denomination on adolescent self-reported frequency of alcohol use by beverage type. Survey data from a sample of 3,065 male and female adolescents in grades seven through twelve in three midwestern states are employed. The findings are somewhat consistent with a hypothesis generated from the different cultural images of alcoholic beverages. For adolescents, the use of beer and liquor are largely restricted to recreational purposes, while wine has both functional and recreational uses. Because purely recreational use of psychotropic substances violates religious standards of asceticism, the effects of religiosity on the use of beer and liquor should be stronger than on the use of wine. The results show that the effects of personal religiosity are weakest for use of wine, but are relatively identical for beer and liquor.