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Childhood Religion Influences Adult Alcohol Use

Religious affiliation is known to play a role in decreasing alcohol use, and the specific type of church involvement has also been shown to be important. This VA study looked at whether childhood religious experience might also impact adult drinking behavior. The 931 participants were males born between 1939 and 1957, who served in the military during the Viet Nam era (1965-1975) and who completed a lifetime drinking history. Their religious affiliation during childhood was obtained from spouses or partners. These affiliations were divided into four categories: non-religious, accommodating (more accepting of mainstream social norms regarding drinking), differentiating (likely to have more restrictive beliefs about alcohol use), and Catholic.

Data were collected via interview in phases to provide the participants’ alcohol use history for every year of their drinking. Lifetime alcohol abstinence, ever drinking regularly, current alcohol dependence (AD), and several other alcohol use variables were calculated for each of the four religious affiliation categories. Among the study’s findings were: significant differences were found among the groups for abstinence, regular drinking, and current quantity/frequency of drinking (QFI) scores. Participants from differentiating denominations (Baptist, Mormon, and fundamentalist protestant) had the highest rates of abstinence and non-regular drinking, and the lowest QFI scores. The non-religious group had more alcohol use than any of the other groups. The accommodating (United Church of Christ, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian) and Catholic fell in between. Childhood religious affiliation appeared most associated with preventative influences such as avoiding, delaying, and minimizing alcohol use and most prominently influenced variables that occur in childhood and adolescence, such as first drink.

The effect of childhood religion on alcohol consumption was consistent across time and continued to influence adult alcohol use rather than decreasing it as expected. The findings confirmed the frequently reported association between religion and alcohol use.

(Koenig, LB, Haber, JR, Jacob, T: Childhood religious affiliation and alcohol use and abuse across the lifespan of alcohol-dependent men. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 25: 381-389, 2011)

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