This new study published in BJPsych Open examined the effects of religiosity during childhood and adolescence on the drug consumption patterns of adults addicted to crack cocaine.
The authors of the study concluded:
”Even in individuals who were heavy users of crack cocaine, in whom the protective factors of religiosity and spirituality might reasonably have been expected to be ineffective or fail, we found that religious involvement during childhood and adolescence was associated with a less severe crack cocaine consumption pattern, starting use later, lower use intensity and less severe craving symptoms.
Our data showed that this association was more important for religious involvement between the ages of 15 and 17 years, an observation that could be highly relevant when considering the design of future prevention strategies.”
A primary implication of this research is that religious and spiritual behaviors should be promoted among adolescents as a drug abuse prevention strategy.
This can be accomplished by addressing spirituality and religiosity within substance use prevention.
The only evidence-informed prevention program that directly integrates spiritual and physical wellness promotion with substance use prevention is the In God’s Image (IGI) Program.
In God’s Image is founded on the same conceptual model as the evidence-based SPORT Prevention Plus Wellness and InShape Prevention Plus Wellness programs.
Research evaluating the effectiveness of the InShape Prevention Plus Wellness program found that it significantly increased spiritual-health quality of life among participating young adults: https://preventionpluswellness.com/pages/published-research-evaluating-inshape-ppw
Register for a free webinar introducing the In God’s Image program this week: https://preventionpluswellness.com/blogs/news/introduction-to-in-god-s-image-the-spiritual-wellness-program-for-youth
Learn more about the In God’s Image program: https://preventionpluswellness.com/products/in-gods-image-program-for-youth
Read the entire online access research paper:
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