title: Religious factors associated with alcohol involvement: results from the Mauritian Joint Child Health Project.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to examine religious factors associated with alcohol involvement in Mauritius. The three main religions on the island, Hinduism, Catholicism, and Islam, promote different views of the appropriate use of alcohol. Based on reference group theory, we hypothesized that both the content of a religion's alcohol norms and an individual's religious commitment would relate to alcohol use behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were from the Joint Child Health Project, a longitudinal study that has followed a birth cohort of 1.795 individuals since 1972 when they were 3 years old. All available participants (67%; 55% male) were assessed in mid-adulthood on religious variables, lifetime drinking, and lifetime alcohol use disorders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Across religions, individuals who viewed their religion as promoting abstinence were less likely to be drinkers. Religious commitment was associated with reduced probability of drinking only in those who viewed their religion as promoting abstinence. Among drinkers, abstention norms and religious commitment were not associated with lower likelihood of alcohol use disorders. In Catholics who viewed their religion as promoting abstinence and still were drinkers, high religious commitment was associated with increased risk for alcohol use disorders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Predictions based on reference group theory were largely supported, with religious norms and commitment differentially related to alcohol use and problems both across religions and among individuals within religions. Findings highlight the importance of examining multiple aspects of religion to better understand the relationship of religion with alcohol behaviors.
authors: Department of Psychology, SGM 501, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1061, USA; Department of Psychiatry, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92161-2002, USA. Electronic address: luczak@usc.edu.
authors: Susan E
authors: SE
authors: Luczak
authors: Department of Psychology, SGM 501, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1061, USA.
authors: Carol A
authors: CA
authors: Prescott
authors: Joint Child Health Project, 75 Celicourt Antelme, Quatre Bornes, Mauritius.
authors: Cyril
authors: C
authors: Dalais
authors: Department of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania, 3718 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6286, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 3720 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6241, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, 423 Guardian Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6021, USA.
authors: Adrian
authors: A
authors: Raine
authors: Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK.
authors: Peter H
authors: PH
authors: Venables
authors: Department of Psychology, SGM 501, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1061, USA.
authors: Sarnoff A
authors: SA
authors: Mednick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000639:trends; D002410:Catholicism / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000523:psychology* / Q000639:trends; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D018596:Hinduism / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam / Q000523:psychology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008436:Mauritius / Q000208:ethnology; D012069:Religion and Psychology
keywords: Alcohol abstinence; Alcohol use disorders; Catholic; Hindu; Muslim; Religion