Relationship between vigorous exercise frequency and substance use among first-year drinking college students.
OBJECTIVE
The authors explored the relationship between self-reported vigorous exercise frequency and alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use behaviors among first-year college students who self-identified as drinkers.


METHODS
The authors recruited 391 freshman college students in Northeast Florida to participate in an alcohol abuse prevention study.


METHODS
The authors conducted a multivariate analysis of variance to assess the relationship between vigorous exercise frequency and 6 measures of ATOD use at baseline.


RESULTS
Frequent exercisers drank significantly more often and a significantly greater quantity than did infrequent exercisers. However, frequent exercisers smoked cigarettes significantly less often than did infrequent exercisers.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that vigorous exercise frequency is differentially associated with alcohol and cigarette consumption among college students. Researchers should further examine the reasons for these differences.
Moore
Michele Johnson
MJ
Department of Public Health, Brooks College of Health, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA. mmoore@unf.edu
Werch
Chudley
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014495:Universities