Parent-child Relations, Religiousness, and Adolescent Substance Use Disorders

Abstract

Research has shown that parent-child relationships and religiousness are negatively associated with substance use among adolescents, but few studies have addressed their relationship with substance use disorders (SUDs). This study explored whether high quality parent-child relations are negatively associated with the risk of an SUD among adolescents, especially when religiousness is high. The data used to assess this inquiry were from 4 years (2016–2019) of the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). SUDs in the past year were based on a set of questions consistent with criteria enumerated in the DSM-IV. Latent measures of parent-child relations and religiousness were also constructed. The results of an augmented inverse probability weighting (AIPW) model furnished empirical evidence in support of the notion that the lowest risk of an SUD occurred among those reporting high quality parent-child relations and high religiousness, even after adjusting for a substantial number of selection factors.

Correlation between religiosity and family functioning among secondary school students in high-risk residing areas and factors associated with substance use

“…Previous studies also show a significant association between substance use and religiosity, with strong religiosity being related to a reduced rate of substance use due to a conservative attitude against substance use and improved psychological well-being [9,[48][49][50]. However, our findings reveal that there is no association between religiosity and substance use, even though respondents had higher religiosity scores for the knowledge and practice component.…”