Religious and spiritual beliefs and attitudes towards addiction and addiction treatment: A scoping review

Highlights • A large proportion of addiction treatment in the U.S. is at least somewhat religious in nature. • Some evidence suggests that attitudes toward addiction and addiction treatment are influenced by religious beliefs. • Relatively little prior research has examined how religion may shape attitudes toward addiction. • Some research suggests that religious beliefs are associated with negative attitudes toward addiction. • Future research is urgently needed to understand how religious beliefs may influence attitudes toward addiction treatment.
Introduction Throughout history, ideas about addiction have been informed and influenced by religious belief and practice. Even continuing into the present, religion and spirituality are often thought to impact attitudes towards addiction and its treatment, particularly given the use of religion and spirituality in various well-known treatments such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Although research has flourished with regards to the role that addiction and spirituality might play in vulnerability to addiction or the treatment of addiction, there has been comparatively less research examining how religion might impact attitudes toward addiction more broadly. Method The present work sought to examine the current state of empirical literature evaluating the relationships between religion and attitudes toward addiction and addiction treatment. In service of the above aim, a scoping review was conducted. Results This summary of peer-reviewed, quantitative studies (n = 36) found that higher religiosity is related to more belief in the disease model of addiction in providers, negative attitudes towards addiction, and a stronger support for spiritually-based treatments. However, results varied based on the measures used and many relationships tested were not significant. There also appeared to be differences in the interaction between religion and spirituality and other variables, such as the respondent’s sex or whether the individual was a student or provider, in terms of attitudes. Conclusions Further research is needed to fully understand the nuances in the relationship between these variables, including more clear operationalization and standardized measurement. Until such research is conducted, no cohesive conclusions can be drawn, and clinical implications remain unclear.