This study analyzes the association of alcohol abuse with religious affiliation, church attendance, and importance of religion among Mexican adolescents, and examines the interactions of these independent variables, which is its main contribution. Based on the National Youth Survey 2010, descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression models were employed. Evangelicals exhibited lower odds of alcohol abuse than Catholics, as well as those with a higher value for their church and those that attended church with parents and friends. Among Catholics, only attending church with parents was associated with lower odds of alcohol abuse, with respect to not attending church, as opposed to Evangelicals, to whom attending church with other family and friends also reduced these odds. Nevertheless, attending church with parents without valuing religion did not protect adolescents from abusing alcohol. Neither attending church alone was associated with this protection, even when the adolescents had a high value for religion. It was concluded that both, being part of a social network that attends church and valuing religion, condition the association of alcohol abuse with religious affiliation and are important protection factors for alcohol abuse among Mexican adolescents.

Alcoholism; religion; youth; Mexico