Are There Gender, Racial, or Religious Denominational Differences in Religiosity's Effect on Alcohol Use and Binge Drinking Among Youth in the United States? A Propensity Score Weighting Approach.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use/misuse is a prevalent health issue among youth and may lead to adverse consequences. Religiosity has been identified as a protective factor against alcohol use/misuse among youth. Identifying moderators in the religiosity-alcohol relationship has important implications for intervention development. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine whether gender, race, or religious denomination moderate the religiosity-alcohol relationship. METHOD: This study overcame previous studies' limitations by using longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample and robust analytical methods (N = 1969). This study used the propensity score weighting method to control for a large number of confounders. Propensity score weights were estimated using Generalized Boosted Models. RESULTS: Findings indicate that gender and religious denomination might not moderate the religiosity-alcohol relationship, whereas racial difference was present. Among White youth, religiosity was found to have a buffering effect against alcohol use (average treatment effect [ATE] = -0.57, CI.95 = -0.83, -0.32) and binge drinking (ATE = 0.54, CI.95 = 0.38, 0.71). However, among non-White youth, religiosity was not found to have an effect on alcohol use (ATE = 0.08, CI.95 = -0.31, 0.47) or binge drinking (ATE = 1.07, CI.95 = 0.68, 1.64). CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that preventions/interventions of youth alcohol involvement that are religiously based may not need to adapt their efforts based on youth's gender or religious denominations. More importantly, when addressing alcohol use/misuse issue among White American youth, religious and faith-based organizations, youth religious group leaders, and clergy should be included in the prevention/intervention efforts.