Religious Beliefs Protect Against Peer Influences on College Drinking

Research suggests that spiritual and religious beliefs facilitate recovery from substance abuse (JW Psychiatry Aug 15 2011). Analogously, college students' perceptions of how much their peers drink (even though such perceptions are usually exaggerated) heavily influence their own drinking. In a questionnaire-based survey of 1124 21-year-old college students, researchers examined whether religious values ameliorate the effect of perceived social norms in influencing alcohol intake. Religious values were defined as finding it important to believe in God, using religious teaching and prayer when problems are encountered, and relying on religious beliefs for daily living.

Endorsement of religious values was negatively correlated with number of d…