Drug Use and Religious Affiliation, Feelings and Behaviour

Summary The present study examined the relationship between religious affiliation, intensity of religious feelings, frequency of church attendance on the one hand, and on the other, drug use among a sample of adolescent students (N =2,066). Six drug‐use measures were employed: alcohol use; cannabis use; non‐medical and medical drug use; hallucinogenic use; and polydrug use. The findings indicate that, religious‐affiliation of students was insignificantly related to drug use. The only exception to this rule was for alcohol use, in which case non‐affiliated students used less frequently than did Protestant or Roman Catholic students. Church attendance exhibited a stronger negatives effect on drug use than did religiosity; however, the effect of the latter had greater impact among females than among males. Overall, the impact of both variables increased as the drug examined moved towards the upper end of the licit‐illict drug continuum. Finally, many of the results varied according to students' gender and age.