Religiosity and Alcohol Use in Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Youth and Young Adults

• NCJ Number: 222726
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 37 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2008 Pages: 552-563
• Author(s): Sharon Scales Rostosky; Fred Danner; Ellen D.B. Riggle
• Date Published: May 2008
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): P01-HD31921
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined religiosity in sexual minority youth and young adults.

Abstract

Findings showed that for sexual minorities, religiosity declined more precipitously from adolescents to young adulthood; religiosity did not offer a protective effect against alcohol abuse for sexual minority youth, in contrast to the protective effect demonstrated for heterosexual youth. Young gay men, lesbians, and bisexual women were less likely to report a current religious affiliation than their heterosexual counterparts. Young adult distal religiosity (or the aspects of religiousness that are associated with organized religious activities and the importance of those activity) of gay and bisexual men and lesbians did not differ from the heterosexual young men, and all of these groups reported significantly lower distal religiosity than heterosexual young women. Young adult bisexual women were at significantly lower distal religiosity than either heterosexual males or females. Lesbian and bisexual young women's distilled and proximal religiosity more closely resemble heterosexual sexual minority young men's scores rather than heterosexual young women's scores. In the past, social scientists had assumed that traditional gender role socialization accounted for women's greater religiosity and that religious participation and commitments reinforced traditional gender roles. Higher religiosity among young adult females is not universal. Instead, sexual minority young women's religiosity more closely resembles that of heterosexual young men than it resembles the religiosity of heterosexual young women because of differing family, peer, and community socialization experiences related to gender and sexuality. Heterosexual men and sexual minorities may reject religiosity for different reasons. Although distal and proximal religiosity were each associated with less frequent alcohol use and binge drinking among heterosexual young adults, there was no such association for sexual minority young adults. Moreover, sexual minority young women drink at rates comparable to their male counterparts. Data were collected from 11,699 adolescents and young adults using the Add Health survey. Tables, references