Faith Without Works?: Religious Salience, Pious Practices, and Adolescent Substance Use

Abstract

An abundance of research has revealed that religious salience is negatively associated with delinquent behavior, including illicit substance use. However, absent from prior work is a consideration of whether youths’ participation in personal religious rituals and acts of devotion might amplify the protective effects of religiosity. Theoretically, it may be expected that these private expressions of belief and identity can strengthen religious commitments and reaffirm membership within specific moral communities. Using data from the National Study of Youth and Religion on a nationally representative sample of adolescents ages 13 to 17 ( N = 3,170), these findings reveal that religious salience inhibits cigarette use, alcohol use, drunkenness, and marijuana use, but only among youth who engage in at least some pious practices.