title: Abstinence versus alcohol use among elderly rural Baptists: a test of reference group theory and health outcomes.
abstract: Reference groups, such as religious groups, are thought to provide individuals with normative frameworks which set and maintain standards for them. Persons who belong to a reference group, yet do not comply with the standards of that group, i.e. non-conformists, are thought to experience cognitive dissonance which in turn may lead to psychological discomfort and adverse physical health outcomes. In a community-based, racially mixed sample of elderly Baptists in the rural south of the United States (n = 1155), where Baptist churches proscribe alcohol use, we studied whether alcohol use was associated with adverse physical and mental health assessments. No relationship was found between non-conformist behavior among rural Baptists and adverse health outcomes for either Whites or African-Americans in controlled analyses. More frequent church attendance among African-American Baptists, but not for White Baptists, was strongly associated with abstinence from alcohol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences & Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Blazer
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hays
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Musick
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009657:North Carolina; D012067:Religion; D012424:Rural Population; D013695:Temperance / Q000523:psychology*