Bruce A. Chadwick is a sociologist and director of the university's Center for Studies of the Family in Provo, Utah. Brent L. Top is a member of the school's religion faculty, who has worked closely with Chadwick to study the religion-drug connection. Their data, compiled over the past 20 years, show that public attendance at church, particularly if it's forced by parents, doesn't help much to keep kids away from addicting substances. But the young people's own spiritual experiences do make a difference.
Adolescence is a turmoil time.
They feel isolated. In faithful, religious families, there's a greater sense of bonding, so that it's hard to get kids broken off into a negative peer group. But being in the church can't protect teens against all the bad influences. There are modern evils in any church. We're all fighting the same battles.