Youth Substance Use and Body Composition: Does Risk in One Area Predict Risk in the Other?
- 19 August 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Nature in Journal of Youth and Adolescence
- Vol. 41 (1), 14-26
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9706-y
Abstract
Both substance use and obesity are prevalent among youth. As youth age, substance use rates increase and over the past three decades, obesity rates among youth have tripled. While these two factors have both short- and long-term health impacts, little research has explored how substance use and obesity among youth may be related. This study explores the bi-directional longitudinal relationships between substance use and body composition. Participants (N = 704; 50.7% female) were mostly white (86.4%) with a baseline mean age of 14.7 years. Objectively measured body composition was used to calculate body mass index z-scores (BMI z-score) and percent body fat. Cross-lagged structural equation models, accounting for clustering at the school level, were run to determine the longitudinal association between body composition and self-reported substance use (alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana), adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, pubertal status, and weight satisfaction. Baseline alcohol use predicted decreased BMI z-score at follow-up and a similar association with percent body fat approached significance. Baseline cigarette use predicted increased percent body fat. No longitudinal associations were seen between baseline body composition and future substance use. Our results suggest that substance use contributes to subsequent body composition; however, body composition does not contribute to subsequent substance use. Continued research that explores these relationships longitudinally is greatly needed.Keywords
This publication has 41 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Link Between Body Dissatisfaction and Self-Esteem in Adolescents: Similarities Across Gender, Age, Weight Status, Race/Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic StatusJournal of Adolescent Health, 2010
- High adiposity and high body mass index–for-age in US children and adolescents overall and by race-ethnic groupThe American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2010
- Overweight, Obesity, Youth, and Health-Risk BehaviorsAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2010
- Examining the Etiology of Childhood Obesity: The IDEA StudyAmerican Journal of Community Psychology, 2009
- Latent Class Analysis of Lifestyle Characteristics and Health Risk Behaviors among College YouthPrevention Science, 2009
- Adoption of Risk-Related Factors Through Early Adolescence: Associations with Weight Status and Implications for Causal MechanismsJournal of Adolescent Health, 2008
- Longitudinal patterns of youth access to cigarettes and smoking progression: Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort (MACC) study (2000–2003)Preventive Medicine, 2007
- Peer Standing and Substance Use in Early-Adolescent Grade-Level Networks: A Short-Term Longitudinal StudyPrevention Science, 2006
- Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternativesStructural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 1999
- Syndrome of problem behavior in adolescence: A replication.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1988