Abstract

There is a contradiction in the existing literature regarding how religion and spirituality are linked to substance abuse and misuse. Research exists to suggest no relationship between the level of spirituality and substance abuse (Weber, 2015). Further research indicates that spirituality but not religion assisted in helping overcome alcohol and drug abuse (Kellie & Eddie, 2019). In Stewart et al.’s 2008 study, individuals were five times more likely to be sober at three months when they consistently practiced their religion or faith. Furthermore, in Piederman et al.’s 2008 study, “public religious practice and existential well-being” were sufficiently correlated to an individual's abstinence of up to one year. DiClemente (2013) argues that religion and spirituality are both risk factors and protective factors given an individual’s background and culture. One explanation for the contradictory findings is whether R/S helps with people’s social identity. Such that, when people gain a strong social identity from their involvement in R/S activities, they are more likely to recover from their addiction. Research has documented the value of social networks for recovery from drug abuse (Best et al., 2015) and how recovery communities increase the likelihood of long-term abstinence (Anderson et al., 2021; Petterson et al., 2019). A gap exists in the current literature to explain whether the association between R/S and substance misuse is moderated by social identity.

This study examined whether the association between R/S and drug and alcohol abuse depends on social identity. The study examined results from a national U.S. sample of adults (ages 18-70) who self-identified with a history of substance abuse/misuse. Participants were recruited through SurveyMonkey Audience and social media. A total of 110 participants have participated in the study to date (M age = 30-44, SD = 14.94). The participants completed a series of questionnaires online including the Spirituality Scale (Delaney, 2003), Religious Commitment Inventory (Worthington et al., 2003), Four Item Measure for Social Identification (Postmes et al. (2013), the Drug Abuse Screening Tool (Skinner, 1982), and the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Tool (Higgins-Biddle & Babor, 2018). The results showed religiosity was not a significant predictor of alcohol or drug misuse. While spirituality significantly and negatively predicted alcohol misuse (R² = .038, F(1, 103) = 4.092, p = .046) and significantly and positively predicted drug misuse (R² = .037, F(1, 109) = 4.196, p = .043). This suggests that spirituality significantly predicts lower alcohol misuse and greater drug misuse. Furthermore, social identity significantly moderated the association between spirituality and alcohol misuse (R² = .080, F(3, 101) = 2.925, p = .037), such that the relationship between spirituality and alcohol misuse was strengthened in the presence of a stronger social identity. Implications for prevention, intervention, practitioners, and future research will be discussed.a