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Beyond the U-Curve: The Relationship Between Sport and Alcohol, Cigarette and Cannabis Use in Adolescents

NCJ Number
196086
Journal
Addiction Volume: 97 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2002 Pages: 707-716
Author(s)
Patrick Peretti-Watel; Francois Beck; Stephane Legleye
Date Published
June 2002
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship between sporting activities and alcohol, cigarette, and cannabis use among adolescents.
Abstract
The data were abstracted from the French part of the European School Survey on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD). This survey was carried out in 30 European countries on the basis of a questionnaire about drug use, behaviors, and opinions. Participants were between the ages of 14 and 19 years. They were asked confidentially by self-administered questionnaire about their use of licit and illicit drugs and lifestyle, including sporting activities outside school, hours per week, registration in a club, and type of sport. Findings show that the U-shaped curve between the intensity of physical activities and licit and illicit drug use appeared not to be systematic; it depended on the substance and on the level of use. This relationship was also dependent on gender: for all levels of cannabis use, it was present for boys but not for girls. The U-shaped curve was shaped by the influence of age on both variables; the eldest adolescents consumed more psychoactive substances and their sporting activity was less frequently moderate. Once controlled for age, sporting activity and types of sport, this relationship proved to be significant only for boys for cannabis use and daily but not heavy smoking. Adolescents registered in a club reported less frequent use than those who were not. Further studies are needed on the relationship observed for girls between use of cannabis, recent drunkenness, and strength or combat sports. 4 figures, 5 tables, 52 references