Smokeless tobacco use among big ten wrestlers and selected associated factors

Exercise and substance use among American youth, 1991-2009

BACKGROUND

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has called for increased research into the use of physical activity in substance abuse prevention, specifically research into physical activity type and context.

PURPOSE

This paper examines the relationships between (1) secondary school student substance use and (2) exercise in general and school athletic team participation, and examines such relationships over time.

METHODS

Nationally representative cross-sectional samples of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students were surveyed each year from 1991 to 2009. Substance use measures included past 2-week binge drinking and past 30-day alcohol, cigarette, smokeless tobacco, marijuana, and steroid use. Analyses were conducted during 2009-2010.

RESULTS

Across grades, higher levels of exercise were associated with lower levels of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Higher levels of athletic team participation were associated with higher levels of smokeless tobacco use and lower levels of cigarette and marijuana use across grades and to higher levels of high school alcohol and steroid use. Exercise helped suppress the undesired relationship between team participation and alcohol use; exercise and athletic team participation worked synergistically in lowering cigarette and marijuana use. Observed relationships were generally stable across time.

CONCLUSIONS

There appear to be substantive differences between exercise and team sport participation in relation to adolescent substance use. These findings from cross-sectional data suggest that interventions to improve levels of general physical activity should be evaluated to determine if they help delay or reduce substance use among youth in general as well as among student athletes.

Adolescents, Doping Agents, and Drug Use: A Community Study

Use of doping agents among Norwegian adolescents was investigated, with special emphasis on the association between doping agent use and use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs. The sample consisted of all 14 to 17 year olds in the public and private school systems in Oslo. The response rate was 94.3 % (n = 10,828). Two and three-tenths percent of the boys and 1.3% of the girls reported a life-time ever use of doping agents. Use of doping agents did not vary according to socio-demographic variables, living area in the city, or ethnic background. Multivariate analyses showed that there was an association between doping agent use and family factors (parental alcohol exposure and poor monitoring). Doping agent users often used commercial gymnasiums; they also reported use of smokeless tobacco and high levels of alcohol problems. The associations between doping agent use and use of amphetamines, MDMA, and heroin were particularly strong. Surprisingly, the association between doping agent use and use of cannabis only was negative. In particular, the link to the use of heroin should be noted, as this may imply needle sharing and the spread of hepatitis and HIV.

Midproject findings from a study of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's policy on smokeless tobacco use

In this paper we present midproject findings from a longitudinal survey of 5,000 male athletes at 56 randomly selected American colleges and universities. The study monitors athletes' compliance with and perceptions of the effects of an organizational policy that restricts smokeless tobacco (ST) use. In 1996 and 1997, 77% of users reported that they complied with the policy during competition. During the same period there was a significant increase in the number of users who complied with policy during practices and of those who credited the policy with contributing to a decline in their overall tobacco consumption (14% vs 68%, p < .001; 17% vs 23%, p < .01: respectively). The findings suggest that organizational policies that regulate ST use can have an impact on young adult ST use.