What's Faith Got to Do with It? Religiosity Among Women Who Use Methamphetamine

Abstract

Religiosity is not found to be consistently protective in mental health and substance use outcomes among illicit drug users. This study examines the association among religiosity, mental health, and drug use among a community-recruited sample of women who use methamphetamine. The majority of the sample (74%) had high scores of religious faith. In multivariate analysis, those with high scores had higher odds of self-reporting a mental health diagnosis and of being psychologically dependent on methamphetamine, and they were less likely to report injection risk. Further examination of the role of religiosity in the lives of women who use methamphetamine is advised.

Keywords:

• faith
• injection drug use
• mental health
• methamphetamine
• religion
• women

Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant R01 DA021100). We would like to thank the women who participated in this study and would also like to thank the following individuals for their contributions: Michèle Thorsen, Jeffrey Klausner, and Wendee Wechsberg.