Research Article: Factors Influencing the Likelihood of Alcohol and Tobacco Use in Adolescent Athletes: Type of Sport, Age, and Action Tendencies in Sport
Abstract:
This article proposes a new approach to understand substance use among adolescent athletes. Thus, this article describes an investigation of the likelihood of alcohol and tobacco use in adolescent athletes considering the type of sport, age, gender, and their action tendencies. A total of 552 athletes with an age range of 12–16 years were engaged in medium–high-contact sports (n = 291) and non-contact sports (n = 261). They completed the Children’s Action Tendency Scale, the Sport Children’s Action Tendency Scale, and the Personal and Social Responsibility Questionnaire. The results showed that 16-year-old athletes were the most likely to drink alcohol and to smoke tobacco (p < 0.001). Likewise, it was found that practicing a medium–high-contact sport was a risk factor for alcohol and tobacco use (p < 0.01). The more aggressive athletes were more likely to have smoked tobacco during the last month (p = 0.019) and also to drink more alcohol that the less aggressive ones (p < 0.001). Finally, the athletes who showed more submissiveness were less likely to have drunk alcohol in the last year and the last month (p < 0.001). These findings show the predictive value of new factors associated with alcohol and tobacco use among adolescent athletes. Preventive measures should be targeted, since a new link between the action tendencies in sport and substance use has been found.
Introduction:
Sport is a very important leisure activity among adolescents. The latest survey of sporting habits in Spain registered that 81.2% of young people aged between 15 and 19 years old were involved in at least one sporting activity and that the percentage of young people with at least one sports license was around 20% [1]. However, a recent study revealed that 76.6% of Spanish adolescents did not meet the recommendations for aerobic exercise in 2016, and similar results were observed globally: 81% of students aged…
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