RELIGIOUSNESS AND ALCOHOL USE: EXPLORING THE ROLE OF DESCRIPTIVE DRINKING NORMS

Alcohol use in young adults requires continued attention due to the significant number of problems related to alcohol consumption. The alcohol use literature has explored a variety of constructs related to alcohol use in young adults including religiousness. The aims of the current study were to demonstrate the relationships between religiousness and alcohol use, explore the associations between religiousness and descriptive drinking norms, replicate the relationships between drinking norms and alcohol outcomes, and explore the mediating role of descriptive drinking norms on the relationships between religiousness and alcohol outcomes. Three hundred and thirty-three undergraduate students (M=19.72 years old; SD=1.1) completed questionnaires assessing religiousness, descriptive drinking norms, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related consequences. Religious commitment and comfort were inversely associated with alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences; religious strain was positively associated with alcohol-related consequences but not significantly related to alcohol consumption. Religious commitment and comfort were inversely associated with drinking norms for one’s close friends; religious commitment was also inversely relate