title: Competitive sport involvement and substance use among adolescents: a nationwide study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The empirical research examining the impact of sports participation on alcohol and other drug use has produced mixed results. Part of this problem may be the result of how different types of sports participation create different experiences that shape certain types of behaviors that either facilitate or deter substance use.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We examined the association between different types of competitive sports participation and substance use among a nationally representative sample of adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two recent cross-sections from the Monitoring the Future were merged to capture a large subsection of adolescents who participate in either high-contact sports (football, wrestling, hockey, and lacrosse), semicontact sports (baseball, basketball, field hockey, and soccer), and noncontact sports (cross-country, gymnastics, swimming, tennis, track, and volleyball).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multivariate analyses revealed that adolescents who participated in high-contact sports had higher odds of using substances during the past 30 days and initiating substance use at early ages. Further, adolescents who participated in noncontact sports had lower odds to indicate smoking cigarettes and marijuana during the past 30 days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parents, educators, and policy makers need to consider that some sporting contexts may be a catalyst to engage in risky behaviors like substance use.
authors.affiliation: 1Institute for Research on Women & Gender, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, Michigan , USA ;
authors.forename: Philip Todd
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Veliz
authors.forename: Carol J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.forename: Sean Esteban
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: McCabe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055030:Drug Users / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Sport participation; adolescents; alcohol use; illicit drug use; substance use