Investigating the interlinkages of alcohol use and misuse, spirituality and culture – Insights from a systematic review

Abstract

Religious values are part of cultures, but spirituality is an internal dimension which may be present in varying degrees across all nations. As both cultural and spiritual factors are important in determining the pattern of alcohol consumption by individuals, it is important to study the relationships between them. The present systematic review aims to summarize the knowledge on the relationship between alcohol use and misuse, religiousness/spirituality and culture drawn from medical studies. Data from the medical literature to date indicate that for some racial and ethnic minorities a return to the traditional culture linked with concepts of spiritual or religious factors can produce a major degree of support for people trying to maintain abstinence from alcohol. This can be seen even in the worst environments. On the other hand, among the general population, religion and/or spirituality can play a positive role in the maintenance of abstinence, but a local heavy drinking culture is a strong risk factor for relapse. These factors are important and can be used for interventions and prevention strategies. However, possible mediating effects need to be explored further. It is likely that both types of intervention (classical medical treatment plus spiritual-based treatment) may work in individuals.

Investigating dimensionality and measurement bias of DSM-5 alcohol use disorder in a representative sample of the largest metropolitan area in South America

“…Studies like this, in large representative samples outside the United States, are important to test the functioning of this diagnosis, in different cultural settings (Shmulewitz et al, 2010; McBride et al, 2011; Mewton et al, 2011), given the differences that permeate the use of alcohol (Castaldelli-Maia and Bhugra, 2014), what is indeed the case of Brazil (Silveira et al, 2007, 2011, 2012; Castaldelli-Maia et al, 2013, 2014). …”

Religiosidade e espiritualidade: mecanismos de influência positiva sobre a vida e tratamento do alcoolista

“…11,12 In the therapy dimension, religion 13 and/or spirituality seem to be related to the maintenance of alcohol withdrawal. 14 Considering the above, religion and spirituality can assume critical roles in the recovery process of alcoholics through relations that have been widely disseminated in the scientific community; 4,5 however, these mechanisms of positive influence from spirituality/religiosity on the recovery from psychoactive substance dependence, in this case alcohol, are not very clear. Further qualitative studies describing how it occurs and analyzing findings and discussions on this theme are necessary.…”

Brazilian scientific articles on “Spirituality, Religion and Health”

“…When talking about the main topics addressed by these articles, alcohol and/or drug use represents the most common issue, showing the importance of this subject in R/S field 21,22 . Noteworthy, ayahuasca appeared as the second most cited in articles with central focus in R/S.…”