The Protective Effects of Religious Group Membership, Service Attendance, and Scripture Reading on Binge Drinking among College Students

Abstract

Using a national sample of college students drawn from Wave 3 of the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR), the current study investigates the protective effects of religious group membership, service attendance, and scripture reading on binge drinking. Specifically, the study examines whether or not any effects exist independent of overall religiousness and the extent to which peers mediate these associations. Findings reveal that religious group membership and scripture reading are associated with significant reductions in binge drinking and that service attendance has a marginally significant association, after controlling for religiousness. The association involving service attendance is mediated by the number of friends who use drugs or drink heavily. Implications of the findings are discussed and include potential policy applications such as devoting more resources to campus ministry offices as allies in promoting healthy behavior, as well as creating programs geared toward students across the religiousness spectrum, including those designed for “seekers” or “skeptics.”