Substance Use & Misuse, 49:1317–1325, 2014 C 2014 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. Copyright  ISSN: 1082-6084 print / 1532-2491 online DOI: 10.3109/10826084.2014.901384

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Public Religiosity, Religious Importance, and Substance Use Among Latino Emerging Adults Oscar S. Escobar and Ellen L. Vaughan

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Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA dependence, but are also at greater risk for substance use (Arnett, 2005b). Emerging adults, roughly aged 18 to mid20’s, may be entering the workforce, starting a family, going to college, or entering military service. Arnett (2005a) contends that during this time, individuals experience a great deal of instability due to removal, weakening, or absence of previously stabilizing factors, such as parental influence, marriage, children, and long-term employment. During this transitional period the individual is in a state of identity exploration as they leave behind previously held roles and identities within the family and community and work on solidifying their identity within new communities and social structures. Although emerging adulthood may be a time of identity and self-exploration it is not without risk. For example, previous studies on college students have found that during their college years a subset of students participate in excessive or binge drinking that could lead to negative consequences, such as injuries, death, legal consequences, and sexual assaults (Engs, Diebold, & Hanson 1996; Hingson, Zha, & Weitzman, 2009). There are also subsets of emerging adults not attending college who also experience similar negative consequences, such as getting into fights, drunk-driving, feeling sick after drinking, and missing work (Cleveland, Mallett, White, Turrisi, & Favero, 2013). Thus, the identification of salient risk and protective factors for substance use among Latino emerging adults is critical for the development of prevention initiatives.

Objective: This study examined the relationship between religiosity (religious importance and public religion) and substance use (binge drinking and marijuana use) among Latino emerging adults. Method: Study utilized data (N = 2,442; 51.9% male) from wave 3 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Results: Only public religion was found to be a protective factor for both binge drinking and marijuana use. Conclusion: The study results suggest the potential for public forms of religion, such as attendance to services and activities, to act as a protective factor for substance use. Keywords

Alcohol, marijuana, Latino, religion, emerging adults

There is currently a large and growing body of literature on the protective relationship of religiosity and substance use during adolescence (Amoateng & Bahr, 1986; Bahr, Maughan, Marcos, & Li, 1998; Wallace & Forman, 1998). However, studies that have explored the subjects of religiosity and substance use among Latino emerging adults are few in number. Investigation of the link between religiosity and substance use in emerging adulthood is needed considering that this developmental transition is associated with exploration in identity and social roles (Arnett, 2005a). Further, emerging adulthood also represents a developmental period of high engagement in risk behaviors such as binge drinking and marijuana use. Finally, Latino emerging adults are underrepresented in the substance use literature despite the growth of this population and engagement in substance use behaviors. Thus, the aim of the current study is to investigate two dimensions of religiosity and substance use among a growing population of Latino Emerging adults.

Latino Emerging Adults

Latinos are underrepresented in the literature on emerging adulthood (S´anchez, Esparza, Col´on, & Davis, 2010). Yet, the 2010 census found that Latinos accounted for half of the total population growth in the U.S., and now represent 16.3% of total U.S. population (Ennis, Rios-Vargas, & Albert, 2011). Furthermore, the Latino population is younger than other groups, which places them at increased risk for substance use (Delva et al., 2005; Volkow, 2006).

Emerging Adulthood

For many, emerging adulthood is an important developmental period when youth are transitioning to greater in-

Address correspondence to Oscar Steven Escobar, MA, Indiana University, 201 N Rose Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; E-mail: [email protected]

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The 2012 National Survey on Drug and Health (NSDUH) found that both Latinos and Latinas between the ages of 18 to 25 year olds had the greatest percentages of past month binge drinking (35.0%) and marijuana use (15.0%) compared to Latinos in other age groups (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2013). Finally, as a group it has also been found that Latinos are more likely to be affected by the negative consequences of substances use (National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA], 2003).

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Public Religiosity, Religious Importance, and Substance Use

Public religion has been defined as affiliation with a particular religion and engagement and/or attendance to religious practices and services. Studies that have explored the relationship between public religiosity and substance use have found that there are lower rates of alcohol use among those who belong to religious denominations that contain abstinence teaching (Amoateng & Bahr, 1986; Ford & Kadushin, 2002). Amoateng and Bahr (1986) suggest that these results can be understood through the framework of social control theorists, such as Hirschi (1969), who posited that the individuals’ associations with non-deviant peers promote conformity to pro-social norms. Thus, attendance of religious services and events could promote conformity to norms against substance use, reduce time for engagement in substance use, and provide a source of stability and support in the individual’s life. On the other hand, Chawala, Neighbors, Lewis, Lee and Larimer (2007) argued that religious importance might be more representative of the internalization of values and norms of religious doctrine in a unique way not captured by religious involvement, such as attendance. In addition, religious importance may be related to the internalization of pro-family norms that may help the individual cope with stressful situations in more pro-social ways that do not involve substance use (Stolzenberg, Blair-Loy, & Waite, 1995). The promotion of pro-family norms may have a particularly salient impact on Latino emerging adults due to the cultural value of familismo (SantiagoRivera, Arredondo, & Gallardo-Cooper, 2002). The internalization of religious importance may promote greater integration with family who are an important source of support in times of stress. Finally, religious importance may provide the individual with cognitive resources that facilitate the use of pro-social religious coping strategies, which could act as a deterrent from using substances to cope (Pargament, 1997). The current body of literature on religiosity and diverse racial and ethnic groups has largely focused on adolescents. Three studies that used national representative data samples and specifically consider racial and ethnic groups in their designs were completed by Park, Bauer, and Oescher (2001); Vaughan, de Dios, Steinfeldt, and Kratz (2011); and Wallace et al. (2007). Park et al. (2001) found that religiosity (combination of public religion and religious importance) was negatively associated with alcohol use among African American, Caucasian,

Latino, and Asian American adolescents. Wallace et al. (2007) found negative relationships between religious importance and public religion and alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use among African American, Latino, and Caucasian adolescents. More recently, Vaughan et al. (2011) found that religious importance negatively correlated with alcohol use among African Americans, Caucasians, Latinos, and multiracial adolescents. With respect to the link between religiosity and substance use among Latino samples, the results are at times inconsistent and have focused on specific Latino subgroups. For example, Marsiglia, Kulis, Nieri, and Parsai (2005) found that public religion was associated with lower lifetime use of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana for a largely Mexican, Mexican American, or Chicano sample of middle school students. In contrast, Parsai, Marsiglia, and Kulis (2010) found that in their sample of Mexican heritage adolescents, ages 11–15, public religion was not significantly protective for alcohol, cigarette, or marijuana use. The authors posited that religious involvement among adolescents might be the results of their parents’ decision to have the adolescent attend church, instead of an internalized sense of religious importance. Fewer studies have investigated the role of religiosity among emerging adults and the majority of these studies have focused on college students (Chawla et al, 2007; Galen & Rogers, 2004; Wells, 2010). This is an important area of study given the shift and exploration in identity. Emerging adults may be asserting some independence in their religious beliefs. Thus, public religion may reflect greater internalization of religious beliefs in addition to reducing opportunity for engagement with substance using peers. Among college students, studies have found that personal religiosity was inversely related to alcohol use (Chawla et al., 2007; Galen & Rogers, 2004; Wells, 2010). These authors further found that this relationship was partially mediated by attitudes about drinking (Chawla et al., 2007), drinking motives (Galen & Rogers, 2004), drinking expectancies (Galen & Rogers, 2004), and attendance at secular universities versus religious colleges (Wells, 2010). Their work makes a substantial contribution to our current understanding of the relationship between religiosity and substance use specifically during emerging adulthood. Limitations of these studies include that they represent only those emerging adults who are attending college, focus only on alcohol use, and lack representative samples of Latino participants. The goals of this project are to address some of the gaps within the literature on substance use (binge drinking and marijuana use) and religiosity (public religion and religious importance) specifically among Latino emerging adults. There is also a substantial literature that emphasizes the importance of acculturation and cultural adaptation in the understanding of substance use behaviors among Latinos (Zemore, 2007). Acculturation can be thought of as changes in values, behavior, and identity with exposure to receiving and heritage cultures (Schwartz, Unger, Zamboanga, & Szapocznik, 2010). Acculturation and indicators of acculturation, such as

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PUBLIC RELIGIOSITY, RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE, AND SUBSTANCE USE

language usage, have been sparsely and inconsistently related to substance use among emerging adults (Rafaelli et al., 2007; Schwartz et al., 2011; Vaughan, Kratz, Escobar, & Middendorf, 2013; Zamboanga, Raffaelli, & Horton, 2006) but remain important correlates of substance use behaviors. Thus, nativity and language usages with family and peer will be included as predictors of binge drinking and marijuana use. This study will be specifically answer the questions, “Does religious importance predict measures of binge drinking and marijuana use?” and “Does public religion predict measures of binge drinking and marijuana use?” By utilizing a nationally representative sample of Latinos from Add Health and incorporating other variables (gender, Latino subgroup, nativity, and language use) this study seeks to address some of the limitations of past studies that explored substance use and religiosity among Latinos such as geographically limited samples and focus on a specific subgroup (e.g., Mexican Americans). Based on previous studies (e.g., Amoateng and Bahr, 1986; Park et al., 2001), it is hypothesized that public religion and religious importance will both have a protective effect on binge drinking and marijuana use. In addition, this study will investigate the relationships between public religion, religious importance, and substance use. Previous studies on religiosity and substance use have combined public religion and religious importance into a single religiosity variable, which has been found to have a negative relationship with substance use.

METHOD Participants

This study consisted of a secondary data analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Add Health consist of a nationally representative sample of United States adolescents that were in 7–12 grade during the 1994–1995 school year. The longitudinal study contains four waves of data. This study utilizes data from Wave 3, which was collected from inhome interviews with the participants in 2001 and 2002 and has a response rate of 70% from the initial Wave 1 sample. Participants were limited to those that selfidentified as Hispanic or Latino and were between the ages of 18–25. The initial sample of participants consisted of 2,442 of which 51.9% were male. An overview of the participant characteristics is presented on Table 1. All of the analyses conducted are based on weighted data in order to account for the non-random sampling design and survey non-responses of the Add Health (Harris, et al. 2008). The grand sample weight for Wave 3 was used for analysis. The sampling weights were used in order to make the appropriate adjustments to account for Add Health’s sampling design. Without the inclusion of the sampling weight it is possible that the estimates from analyses could be biased due to external factors that influenced participation in the Add Health study and influenced the dependent variables of interest (Chantala, 2006).

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TABLE 1. Participant characteristics Variable Age % Male Education Less than HS Completed HS or GED Some College Latino Subgroup Mexican Puerto Rican Cuban Other Latino Born in the United States No Yes Language use with Family English Half English and Half Another Language Spanish Language use with Friends English Half English and Half Another Language Spanish Number of Friends who Binge Drink 0 1 2 3 Religious Importance Public Religion Binge Drinking in Past 30 Days No Yes Marijuana Use in Past 30 Days No Yes

Mean (S.E.)/ Percentage 21.8 (.23) 51.9% 22.3% 36.3% 41.3% 58.1% 12.3% 5.6% 24.1% 23.4% 76.6% 55.6% 9.7% 34.7% 82.2% 7.6% 10.2% 57.3% 20.0% 7.5% 15.2% .03 (.03) 2.52 (.12) 56.5% 43.5% 81.6% 18.4%

Measures

Gender Gender was determined from a self-reported demographic variable, and coded as 0 = female and 1 = male. Education Education was determined by utilizing three items, (1) “What is the highest grade or year of regular school you have completed?,” (2) “GED or high school equivalency degree?,” and (3) “high school diploma?” The first item “What is the highest grade or year of regular school you have completed?” was coded as 6th to 11th grade = less than high school, 12th grade = high school, and 1 year of college to 5 or more years of graduate school = some college. The two additional items “GED or high school equivalency degree?” and “high school diploma?” were used to differentiate those who received a high school diploma or GED from those who may have attended 12th grade but did not graduate or receive a GED. The final variable used included three categories less than high

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school, high school graduate or equivalency, and some college or more. Latino Subgroups Latino subgroups were determined by utilizing a single item, “What is your Hispanic or Latino Background?” Participants choose from six Latino subgroup categories (Mexican/Mexican American, Chicano/Chicana, Cuban/Cuban American, Puerto Rican, Central/South American, and other Hispanic). The initial six subgroups were reduced to four by combining Mexican/Mexican American and Chicano/Chicana subgroups into a Mexican/Mexican American subgroup and combining Central/South American and other Hispanic into a other Hispanic subgroup. The sample consisted of 58.1% Mexican/Mexican American, 12.3% Puerto Rican, 5.6% Cuban/Cuban American, and 24.1% Other Hispanic. Nativity Nativity was determined using a single item, “Were you born in the United States?” Participants responses were coded as 0 = no and 1 = yes. The majority of participants in the study were born in the United States 76.6%. Language Use with Family Language use with family was determined by the item, “What language do you use most with your family and close relatives?” The responses for the item were coded as 0 = Spanish, 1 = half English and half another language, and 2 = English. Two dummy variables were used and English language usage was the reference category. Language Use with Friends Language use with family was determined by the item, “What language do you use most with you close friends?” The responses for the item were coded as 0 = Spanish, 1 = half English and half another language, and 2 = English. Two dummy variables were used and English language usage was the reference category. Number of Friends who Binge Drink Number of binge drinking friends was determined by the item, “Of your three best friends, how many binge drink at least once a month?” The responses for the item were coded as 0 = none, 1 = 1 friend, 2 = 2 friends, and 3 = 3 friends. Religious Importance Religious importance was determined by combining the following four items: (1) “What seem to be coincidences in my life are not really coincidences; I am being “led” spiritually”; (2) “I employ my religious or spiritual beliefs as a basis for how to act and live on a daily basis”; (3) “How important is your religious faith to you?”; and (4) “How important is your spiritual life to you?”. Items 1 and 2 were coded so 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 neither agree nor disagree, 4 = agree, and 5 = strongly agree. Items 3 and 4 were coded so 1 = not important, 2 = somewhat important, 3 = very important, and 4 = more

important than anything else. The z score of the four items averaged to create a measure of religious importance. Internal constancy for religious importance was .79. Public Religion Public religion was determined by combining the following two items, (1) “How often have you attended {church/ synagogue/ temple/ mosque/ religious} services in the past 12 months?” and (2) “Many churches, synagogues, and other places of worship have special activities for young adults-such as Bible classes, retreats, youth groups, or choir. In the past 12 months, how often have you taken part in such activities?” The responses were coded as 0 = never, 1 = a few times, 2 = several times, 3 = once a month, 4 = 2 or 3 times a month, 5 = once a week, and 6 = more than once a week. Binge Drinking For male participants binge drinking was determined using a single item, “During the past two weeks, how many times did you have five or more drinks on a single occasion, for example, in the same evening?” For female participants binge drinking was determined using an identical single item that asked about 4 or more drinks. The participants responses were dummy coded a 0 = no occasions of binge drinking and 1 = for any occasion of binge drinking. Marijuana Use Marijuana use was measured by three questions, “Since June 1995, have you used marijuana?,” “In the past year, have you used marijuana?”, and “During the past 30 days, how many times have you used marijuana?” The three questions were combined to arrive at a yes or no assessment of past 30-day marijuana use. This use of the three questions was necessary due to the way that Add Health would skip questions based on the participant’s previous response. For example, if the participant indicated that they have not use marijuana since 1995 the two questions regarding past year and past 30 day use would be classified as “legitimate skip”. Approximately 18.4% of the sample indicated marijuana use in the past 30 days. Data Analysis

Data analysis was completed using the complex sampling procedures in SPSS, which incorporates the sampling weights used in the national survey (SPSS, 2011). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. Univariate logistic regressions were conducted to arrive at unadjusted odd ratio for each of the independent variables (gender, education, Latino Subgroup, born in the US, language use with family, language use with friends, number of friends who binge drink, religious importance, and public religion) and the dependent variables (binge drinking and marijuana use in the past 30 days). Adjusted odds ratios for each dependent variable were computed with multivariate logistic regression analysis that excluded those variables that were not significantly related to the dependent variables.

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PUBLIC RELIGIOSITY, RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE, AND SUBSTANCE USE

RESULTS

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Binge Drinking

Of the sample of 2,280 young Latino adults, 43.5% reported past two week binge drinking. Logistic regression analyses were performed using acculturation and religion variables to predict binge drinking. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios are presented in Table 2. The overall model for the adjusted logistic regression was found to be statistically significant, Wald F (4, Strata 104) = 13.16, p < .001, and explained between 17.6% (Cox and Snell R2 ) and 23.6% (Nagelkerke R2 ) of the variance in binge drinking. Finally, the model correctly classified 69.0% of the cases. Statistically significant predictors were gender, education, number of binge drinking friends, and public religion. The odds of binge drinking were 2.04 times greater for males than females (OR = 2.04, p < .001). Participants who completed some college more had lower odds of binge drinking (OR = .68, p < .01) than those with a high school diploma or GED. When compared to participants who had 3 friends who binge drank, those with 2 or fewer friends had a reduction in their odds of bring drinking (0 friends = OR = .12, p < .001, 1 friend = OR =

.24, p < .05, 2 friends = OR = .20, p < .001). Finally, those lower on public religion were at 1.09 times greater odds to engage in binge drinking (OR = 0.91, p < .05). Marijuana Use

Of the sample of 2,257 young Latino adults, 18.4% reported past 30-day marijuana use. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios are presented in Table 3. The overall model for the adjusted logistic regression was found to be statistically significant, Wald F (4, Strata 110) = 10.53, p < .001, and explained between 11.5% (Cox and Snell R2 ) and 18.7% (Nagelkerke R2 ) of the variance in marijuana use. Finally, the model correctly classified 81.3% of the cases. Statistically significant predictors were Latino subgroup, language use with family, number of friends who binge drink, and public religion. Compared to the other Latino subgroup Cubans (OR = 2.07, p < .05) were at greater odds for past 30 day marijuana use. Speaking Spanish with family was found to be associated with lower odds of marijuana use (OR = .40 p < .01). Participants with 0 binge drinking friends were at lower odds compared to those with 1 to 3 binge drinking friends

TABLE 2. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios for binge drinking Unadjusted OR 95% CI

Variable Gender Female Male Education Less than HS Some College Completed HS or GED Latino Subgroup Mexican Cuban Puerto Rican Other Born in the U.S. No Yes Language use with family Spanish Half English and Half Other English Language use with friends Spanish Half English and Half Other English Number of Friends who Binge Drink 0 friends 1 friends 2 friends 3 friends Religious Importance Public Religion 0.05 0.01 0.001

Adjusted OR 95% CI

– 2.43∗∗∗

– [1.83, 3.22]

– 2.04∗∗∗

– [1.43, 2.86]

1.12 .67∗∗ –

[.66, 2.14] [.47, .92] –

1.06 .67∗∗ –

[.57, 1.95] [.47, .99] –

1.20 0.74 1.25 –

[.88, 1.65] [.45, 1.24] [.88, 1.80] –

– – – –

– – – –

– 1.46∗

– [1.05, 2.03]

– 1.15

– [.68, 1.96]

.77 1.03 –

[.54, 1.09] [.67, 1.59] –

– – –

– – –

1.02 1.66 –

[.68, 1.54] [.83, 3.35] –

– – –

– – –

.10∗∗∗ .22∗∗∗ .19∗∗∗ – 0.71∗∗∗ 0.86∗∗∗ ∗ ∗∗ ∗∗∗

[.07, .15] [.12, .38] [.09, .42] – [.61, .82] [.82, .91]

.12∗∗∗ .24∗∗∗ .20∗∗∗ – 0.93 0.91∗

[.08, .19] [.14, .43] [.08, .45] – [.76, 1.15] [.84, 99]

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TABLE 3. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios for marijuana use Unadjusted OR 95% CI

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Variable Gender Female Male Education Less than HS Some College Completed HS or GED Latino Subgroup Mexican Cuban Puerto Rican Other Born in the U.S. No Yes Language use with family Spanish Half English and Half Other English Language use with friends Spanish Half English and Half Other English Number of Friends who Binge Drink 0 friends 1 friends 2 friends 3 friends Religious Importance Public Religion 0.05 0.01 0.001

Adjusted OR 95% CI

– 1.27

– [.93, 1.74]

– –

– –

1.77∗∗ 1.68∗∗ –

[1.22, 2.59] [1.15, 2.45] –

1.56 1.44 –

[.99, 2.50] [.96, 2.16] –

0.87 1.51 1.75∗∗ –

[.56, 1.38] [.92, 2.48] [1.11, 2.76] –

1.27 2.07∗ 1.48 –

[.82, 1.96] [1.28, 3.34] [.88, 2.48] –

– 3.00∗∗∗

– [1.80, 5.02]

– 1.69

– [.85, 3.33]

.30∗∗∗ .47∗∗∗ –

[.19, .45] [.28, .77] –

.40∗∗ .54 –

[.23, .70] [.28, 1.03] –

.33∗∗ .48 –

[.15, .75] [.21, 1.14] –

.94 .85

[.39, 2.24] [.31, 2.29]

.35∗∗∗ .61 .63 – 0.59∗∗∗ 0.77∗∗∗ ∗ ∗∗ ∗∗∗

[.24, .52] [.34, 1.09] [.36, 1.12] – [485, .72] [.71, .84]

.40∗∗∗ .68 .76

[.27, .60] [.38, 1.22] [.41, 1.39]

.82 .81∗∗∗

[.63, 1.07] [.73, .90]

(OR = .40, p < .001). Among participants with was found that as public religious decreased the odds of marijuana use increased by 1.23 times (OR = 0.81, p < .001). DISCUSSION

The results of this study did not support the two initial hypotheses. Public religion was found to be a protective factor for both binge drinking and marijuana use. However, religious importance was not found to be protective for either binge drinking or marijuana use. The results of this study are interesting within the general body of literature on religiosity and substance use among Latinos. The current findings support the previous work done by Marsiglia et al. (2005) and Wallace et al. (2007), which found that public religion was protective against binge drinking and marijuana use for adolescents. However, the results of this study contradict the study by of Chawla et al. (2007) and Vaughan et al. (2011), which found religious importance to be negatively correlated with alcohol use. The non-significant relationship between religious importance and binge drinking and marijuana use could be an

artifact of the data used, or it could suggest the possibility that among Latino emerging adults there are differences with regard to which aspects of religion, public religion vs. religious importance, influence substance use. One possible mechanism of the protective effects of public religion on binge drinking is through religious doctrine that advocates against alcohol consumption or the consumption of alcohol in moderation (Amoateng & Bahr, 1986; Ford & Kadushin, 2002). It may also be that similar prescriptions against drug use or illegal activity may underlie the protective effect of public religion against marijuana use. However, this possible mechanism of action cannot be examined with the current sample due to the lack of data on the presence of religious prescriptions against alcohol or marijuana consumption as rated by the participants. Another possibility is that engagement in religious activities may simply reduce the opportunities or time for the individual to engage in substance use. Finally, public religion may be considered a societal or institutional structure that provides stability to the individual during emerging adulthood and acts as a protective factor against substance use (Arnett, 2005a).

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PUBLIC RELIGIOSITY, RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE, AND SUBSTANCE USE

The finding that religious importance was unrelated to both binge drinking and marijuana use is intriguing and contradicts previous studies (e.g., Park et al., 2001; Vaughan et al., 2011; Wallace et al., 2007), which found a negative relationship between religious importance and alcohol and marijuana use. The Park et al. (2001) study combined public religion and religious importance, which were separated in the current study and may explain the non-significant relationship for religious importance in the current study. Wallace et al. (2007) explored religious importance and public religion separately and found a negative relationship between both forms of religiosity and alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. These differences may be due to variation in the measurement of religious importance or to characteristics of the samples including developmental stage. All of these studies used adolescent samples, which may suggest that religious importance has a different effect on substance use behavior during emerging adulthood. Among emerging adult samples, results of the current study also differ. Chawla et al. (2007) found religious importance was negatively correlated with alcohol use among emerging adults among a sample of first year undergraduate students and most closely replicates the emerging adulthood sample used in this study. Wells (2010) found that students who attended a secular university vs. a religious college reported greater alcohol use and lower levels of religiosity (a combination of religious importance and public religion). Finally, Galen and Rogers (2004) found positive and negative expectations in addition to drinking motives mediated the relationship between religiosity (religious importance and public religion) and alcohol use. These studies combined public religion and religious importance into one broad construct of religiosity and utilized college samples of emerging adults. The current study builds on their results by included both college and non-college participants and focusing in on an understudied sample of Latino emerging adults. While not a direct focus of the study there were additional variables that resulted in significant relationships with binge drinking and marijuana use. Consistent with prior research, such as the 2010 NSDUH (SAMHSA, 2010), males were at greater odds for binge drinking than females. Cubans were at greater odds for past 30-day marijuana use compared to “other Latinos.” This finding highlights the importance including Latino subgroups in order to better understand this heterogeneous group that reflects differences in past and current socio-political contexts, cultural norms, and cultural values. In addition, participants who were attending college were at lower odds for binge drinking than those with high school equivalency. Education did not make a difference in the odds of marijuana use. Consistent with prior research peer binge drinking was linked with binge drinking and marijuana use in this sample (Stone, Becker, Huber, & Catalano, 2012). Peer influence may be heightened in emerging adulthood with shifts to peers as an important developmental context. Finally, those who spoke English or half English and

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half Spanish, which might indicate higher levels of acculturation, were at greater odds for marijuana use. Together, these results support the importance social and cultural contexts in understanding substance use behaviors. The strengths of this study are numerous. This study aims contributes to the literature by exploring the relationship between religiosity and substance use specifically among Latino emerging adults from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The large sample and inclusion of Latino subgroups and language usage variables bolsters the generalizability. In addition, this study explores different dimensions of religiosity and expanded on previous works that combined public religion and religious importance into a single variable of religiosity (Amoateng & Bahr, 1986; Bahr et al., 1998; Wallace & Forman, 1998) The non-significant relationships between religious importance, binge drinking, and marijuana use highlight that the relationship between different dimensions of religiosity and substance use may differ among Latino emerging adults. The study contains a number of limitations that should be noted. To date there are currently no widely accepted operational definitions of religiosity, which limits direct comparison of the current study to previous or future studies that use a different measure of religiosity. In addition, the concept of religiosity may differ from the definitions of religiosity based on attendance or religious importance that have been used in previously studies and in the current study. In addition, the study does not explore regional and communal contexts, which may play a significant role in the way religiosity is manifested among Latinos in different states within the United States. For example, it may be the case that Latino emerging adults within a Latino enclave will experience religiosity differently than those that are in an area where there may be few other Latinos. It is possible that Latinos who live in an area with a larger Latino population will experience greater protective effects of religiosity due to the social support within the community. The current study benefits from a nationally representative sample of Latinos, which also results in the inability to detect the possible effects of regional and communal factors on the relationship between religiosity and substance use. The findings of this study suggest that clinicians working with Latinos during emerging adulthood may wish to assess for the importance of religion within the individuals life and the behaviors associated with religious practice separately. Latinos as a group tend to be largely Catholic (Santiago-Rivera et al., 2002). However, affiliation or identification with a religious denomination does not necessarily imply the internalization of religious doctrine and highlights the need to assess religious importance and public religion separately. If a clinician assesses a Latino emerging adult to be highly involved with religious services and events they may wish to incorporate religious practices, beliefs, or events in their work with Latinos due to the importance of religion within the culture. For example, religion and religious practice such as attending church (placed within the public region construct in this

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study) may play a central in times of crisis or celebration (Santiago-Rivera et al., 2002). In order to address concerns over external validity future researchers looking at subgroup difference among Latino emerging adults may wish to expand beyond quantitative measures such as likert scales to assess selfreported religious importance or attendance of religious services. For example, researchers could use qualitative methodologies to further assess the meaning or role that attendance at religious activities holds among Latinos. Qualitative data in addition to quantitative data could help explore the mechanism underlying the negative correlation between public religion and substance use. Mechanisms for the protective effects of public religion on substance use may be that attendance at religious services and activities reduces time for engagement in substance use, promotes affiliation with non-using peer, and provide a source of stability and support in the individual’s life. Finally, community and collegiate outreach programs working with Latinos may wish to incorporate and track the effects of including religious based interventions within harm reduction or abstinence programs for their participants. Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

prevention of problematic alcohol and drug use among Latino adolescents and emerging adults.

GLOSSARY

Emerging Adulthood: The developmental stage when an individual is transitioning from adolescence into adulthood and is defined in this study as ages 18–25. Public Religion: For the purposes of this study, public religion was specified as attendance of religious services or religious events. Religious Importance: For the purposes of this study, religious importance was specified as the importance and role of religion and spirituality in the individual’s life. Binge Drinking: For the purposes of this study, binge drinking was defined as 5 or more drinks on a single occasion for males and four or more drinks on a single occasion for females and is in line with the commonly used definition of binge drinking in the literature on substance use. Marijuana Use: For the purposes of this study, marijuana use was specified as the presence or absence of marijuana use in the past 30-days. Odds Ratio: The odds ratio represents the change in odds of a categorical outcome for every unit increase in a predictor variable. Odds ratios greater than 1 indicate an increase in the odds of an outcome while an odds ratios less than 1 indicates a decrease in the odds of an outcome.

THE AUTHORS Oscar S. Escobar is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at Indiana University. He received a BA in Psychology from Rutgers University in 2008 and received his MA in Counseling Psychology from Arcadia University in 2011. His current research interests include the protective roles of cultural values in substance use and mental health prevention and treatment among Latino adolescents and emerging adults. He will graduate with his PhD in 2016.

Ellen L. Vaughan, PhD from University of Miami, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at Indiana University. Prior to joining the faculty at Indiana University, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in substance abuse prevention research at Yale University School of Medicine. Her current research interests include the

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PUBLIC RELIGIOSITY, RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE, AND SUBSTANCE USE

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