Non Drug Use- and Drug Use-Specific Spirituality as One-Year Predictors of Drug Use Among High-Risk Youth

• NCJ Number: 216884
• Journal: Substance Use & Misuse: An International Interdisciplinary Forum Volume: 41 Issue: 13 Dated: 2006 Pages: 1801-1816
• Author(s): Steve Sussman; Silvana Skara; Yaneth Rodriguez; Pallav Pokhrel
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined whether spirituality influenced either the use of drugs (drug use-specific spirituality) or abstinence from drugs (non-drug use-specific spirituality) among a sample of continuation high school students in California.

Abstract

The findings revealed that the strongest predictor of 1 year drug use was baseline drug use. As expected, non-drug use-specific spirituality (NDUSS) was negatively related to the use of alcohol, marijuana, and stimulant use while drug use-specific spirituality (DUSS) failed to predict drug use at the 1-year follow-up. On the other hand, DUSS was positively associated with cigarette and hallucinogen use while NDUSS failed to predict the use of these drugs. The findings suggest that NDUSS may be influencing the belief that drugs should be avoided while DUSS may be influencing the belief that drugs are acceptable. Spirituality can thus have risk effects on drug use among adolescents in addition to the protective effects illustrated in previous research. Participants were 501 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 10 years who were recruited from 18 school districts in a 5-county region of southern California in a selection procedure approximating random selection. Participants completed a 20-page self-report questionnaire at baseline measuring a variety of social, behavioral, personal, and demographic characteristics, including information on personal spirituality, spiritual practices, and drug use. Participants were surveyed again 1 year later using identical survey items and response categories. The analysis focused on the use of five types of drugs over a 1-year period: cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, stimulants, and hallucinogens. It was hypothesized that NDUSS and DUSS would have differential relations with drug use. A series of 15 general linear model analyses were conducted using the SAS statistical package in order to identify the variables that predicted drug use at the 1-year follow-up. Future research should seek to understand the underlying mechanisms through which spirituality either encourages or protects against drug use. Tables, glossary, references