Does frequent prayer help reduce alcohol use? Heterogeneity in religious contexts and drinking styles

Abstract

ABSTRACT Risky alcohol drinking remains a public health issue in many societies. Evidence has shown that religious coping is often associated with less alcohol consumption. This study examines the relationship between frequent prayer and alcohol use in two major denominations in Christianity: Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Fixed-effects nominal logistic analyses were conducted on a sample (n = 10,666) extracted from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97 (NLSY97). After controlling for unobservable individual characteristics, the present study reveals that frequent prayer could reduce alcohol consumption in the context of Protestantism. This mitigation effect is only significant for moderate alcohol users but not heavy alcohol users. In Roman Catholicism, there is no evidence to support that frequent prayer could reduce alcohol consumption, regardless of one’s drinking style. The present study concludes that not only religious denominations but also drinking styles are factors that need to be considered when implementing intervention programmes for alcohol misuse.