Religiosity as a Predictor of Adolescents' Substance Use Disorder Treatment Outcomes

ABSTRACT

Background: A growing body of research on adults with substance use disorders (SUDs) suggests that higher levels of religiosity and/or spirituality are associated with better treatment outcomes. However, investigation into the role of religiosity and spirituality in adolescent SUD treatment response remains scarce. The present study examines religiosity as a predictor of treatment outcomes in an adolescent sample, with alcohol/other drug problem recognition as a hypothesized moderator of this relationship. Problem recognition was selected as a moderator in an attempt to identify a subset of adolescents who would be more likely to use religious resources when attempting to change their substance use. Methods: One hundred twenty-seven outpatient adolescents aged 14 to 19 (M_age = 16.7, SD = 1.2, 24% female) were followed for 1 year after treatment intake. Growth curve analyses were used to assess the impact of baseline religiosity and problem recognition on subsequent abstinence rates, drug-related consequences, and psychological distress. Results: On average, abstinence did not change significantly during the follow-up period, whereas drug-related consequences and psychological distress decreased significantly. Religiosity did not predict changes in abstinence or psychological distress over time. Religiosity did predict reductions in drug-related consequences over time (b = −0.20, t = −2.18, P = .03). However, when problem recognition was added to the model, the impact of religiosity on consequences became nonsignificant, and there was no interaction between religiosity and problem recognition on consequences. Conclusions: The main hypothesis was largely unsupported. Possible explanations include that the sample was low in religiosity and few participants were actively seeking sobriety at treatment intake. Findings suggest adolescent outpatients with SUD may differ from their adult counterparts in the role that religiosity plays in recovery.

Keywords:

• Religion, adolescent, substance use, problem recognition

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank Michael Suvak, PhD, of Suffolk University for his assistance with data analysis. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

All authors contributed to the conceptualization of the study presented in this paper. Ms. Yeterian managed the literature searches and summaries of previous related work, conducted the data analyses and interpreted the results, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Drs. Bursik and Kelly provided substantive feedback on drafts of the manuscript. Ms. Yeterian managed the revisions to the paper, with input from Drs. Bursik and Kelly. Dr. Kelly designed and conducted the original study from which data are drawn.

Funding

Research reported in this paper was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under award number F31DA035030 and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01AA015526. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.