title: Religious Involvement, Financial Strain, and Poly-Drug Use: Exploring the Moderating Role of Meaning in Life.
abstract: Research indicates that greater involvement in religion is associated with lower rates of substance use and misuse. However, religion is a complex construct that can be assessed in many ways. The purpose of this study is to explore a dimension of religion that has not been evaluated in previous research on poly-drug use: a religious sense of meaning in life.
  
  
  
  It is hypothesized that a religious sense of meaning in life will offset (i.e., moderate) the effects of chronic financial strain on poly-drug use. In order to instill greater confidence in the findings, the moderating role of a religious sense of meaning in life is compared and contrasted with a general sense of meaning in life.
  
  
  
  The data are provided by a recent nationwide survey of adults of all ages in the United States (N = 2,622). The relationships among the core study constructs are evaluated with ordinary least squares multiple regression.
  
  
  
  The results indicate that a greater religious sense of meaning in life buffers the effects of financial strain on poly-drug use. In contrast, a general sense of meaning in life does not appear to perform a similar stress-buffering function. Conclusions/Importance: The findings from this study are important because they provide greater insight into the potentially important ways in which involvement in religion may be associated with poly-drug use.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Behavior and Health Education , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , Michigan , USA.
authors.forename: Neal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , Bowling Green State University , Bowling Green , Ohio , USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Pargament
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychology , Miami University , Coral Gables , Florida , USA.
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ironson
authors.affiliation: d Rosemead School of Psychology , Biola University , La Mirada , California , USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hill
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012067:Religion; D012307:Risk Factors; D060685:Sense of Coherence; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Religion; meaning in life; poly-drug use; stress