Attitude towards alcohol, church attendance and denominational identity

This paper describes the development of a 16-item Likert scale of attitude towards alcohol. Data derived from 315 individuals, concerned with various forms of youth work in England, demonstrate that both denominational affiliation and frequency of church attendance are significant determinants of attitudes towards alcohol. Membership of the Free Churches and frequent church attendance are associated with less liberal attitudes. These conclusions are discussed against the background of previous discrepant findings relating religiosity with alcohol use and abuse and contemporary sociological theories regarding the compartmentalisation of religious beliefs.