Title

Religious Involvement, Financial Strain, and Poly-Drug Use: Exploring the Moderating Role of Meaning in Life

School/Department

Rosemead School of Psychology

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

Background: Research indicates that greater involvement in religion is associated with lower rates of substance use and misuse. However, religion is a complex construct that can be assessed in many ways. The purpose of this study is to explore a dimension of religion that has not been evaluated in previous research on poly-drug use: a religious sense of meaning in life. Objectives: It is hypothesized that a religious sense of meaning in life will offset (i.e., moderate) the effects of chronic financial strain on poly-drug use. In order to instill greater confidence in the findings, the moderating role of a religious sense of meaning in life is compared and contrasted with a general sense of meaning in life. Methods: The data are provided by a recent nationwide survey of adults of all ages in the United States (N = 2,622). The relationships among the core study constructs are evaluated with ordinary least squares multiple regression. Results: The results indicate that a greater religious sense of meaning in life buffers the effects of financial strain on poly-drug use. In contrast, a general sense of meaning in life does not appear to perform a similar stress-buffering function. Conclusions/Importance: The findings from this study are important because they provide greater insight into the potentially important ways in which involvement in religion may be associated with poly-drug use.

Keywords

Substance use; Meaning (Psychology); Meaning (Philosophy)--Religious aspects

Publication Title

Substance Use & Misuse

Volume

52

Issue

3

First Page

286

Last Page

293

DOI of Published Version

10.1080/10826084.2016.1225096

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