Study on religious addiction as a potential novel type of behavioral addiction in an adolescent population

Abstract

Religious addiction is a new behavioral addiction, featured with pathologic religious activity. The authors examined whether this new phenomenon appears in adolescence, and whether it correlates with substance use and mental health variables. The General Addiction Screening Tool was used to investigate the presence of religious addiction among youth (N = 656; mean age, 16.5 years; 49.2% females). Besides monthly and lifetime prevalence of substance use, variables of psychological well-being (e.g., depression, aggression, optimism) were also detected. Religiosity was relatively low among adolescents. Nearly 1% of the sample might be characterized as being addicted to religion, 16.2% belonged to the symptomatic group, while 83% of them were asymptomatic. Religious addicts were more likely to be more religious and the role of religion in one's life was more important. Also, they tended to pray more and attend church more frequently. It was also found that amphetamine use was more frequent among the addicts. In terms of mental health level, aggression scored lower and spiritual well-being reached higher level. Religiosity is a vague phenomenon, and further investigation is needed to detect when healthy enthusiastic religiosity turns into religious addiction.