title: Brief report: Bifactor modeling of general vs. specific factors of religiousness differentially predicting substance use risk in adolescence.
abstract: Religiousness is important to adolescents in the U.S., and the significant link between high religiousness and low substance use is well known. There is a debate between multidimensional and unidimensional perspectives of religiousness (Gorsuch, 1984); yet, no empirical study has tested this hierarchical model of religiousness related to adolescent health outcomes. The current study presents the first attempt to test a bifactor model of religiousness related to substance use among adolescents (N = 220, 45% female). Our bifactor model using structural equation modeling suggested the multidimensional nature of religiousness as well as the presence of a superordinate general religiousness factor directly explaining the covariation among the specific factors including organizational and personal religiousness and religious social support. The general religiousness factor was inversely related to substance use. After accounting for the contribution of the general religiousness factor, high organizational religiousness related to low substance use, whereas personal religiousness and religious support were positively related to substance use. The findings present the first evidence that supports hierarchical structures of adolescent religiousness that contribute differentially to adolescent substance use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, United States. Electronic address: jungmeen@vt.edu.
authors.forename: Jungmeen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim-Spoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral and Social Science, University of Montevallo, United States.
authors.forename: Gregory S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, United States.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Holmes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012944:Social Support; D029181:Spirituality; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Adolescent substance; Bifactor modeling; Religiousness