Childhood Religious Affiliation Type Is Associated with Alcohol, but Not Cannabis Use in Adults

Abstract

ABSTRACT With the recent rise in cannabis use and reported association between use and biopsychosocial risk, identifying factors to reduce use is important. This study examined the association between religion and spirituality factors and cannabis initiation and use. An online survey sample (N = 935) provided demographic, childhood religious affiliation (association with a specific religious group), religiosity (e.g., church attendance, prayer), spirituality, and substance use-related information. As hypothesized, participants with higher religiosity scores were less likely to be regular cannabis users (p = .017). However, cannabis use (early initiation, regular use, recent use, problematic use) was not associated with religious affiliation or with religious affiliation type (religions grouped by identifiable characteristics). Nevertheless, religious affiliation type was associated with recent alcohol use (p < .001) and recent intoxication (p = .006) among participants who reported cannabis use at least once, supporting previous research suggesting an inverse relation between religiosity and substance use. Overall, childhood religious affiliation type was not associated with cannabis use milestones as had been previously reported for alcohol use milestones. This suggests important differences between alcohol and cannabis use characteristics (e.g., social acceptability, recreational vs. medicinal substance) that may have implications for future substance use research, prevention, and treatment.