102. Suicidal Risk Behavior in Emerging Adult ED Patients Screened for Substance Use

Abstract

Purpose:Athletic participationmay protect against substance use in high school students; however, the data is conflicting at the collegiate level. We examined the associations between athletic participation and substanceuse inuniversity students, and the substance use patterns in team-based and individualbased competitive sports. Methods:US university students (18-26 years; 661males, 973 emales) were recruited through a social networking website o complete an online questionnaire on athletics and health. ompetitive athletes (CA) participated in a competitive sport ithin the past year; recreational athletes (RA) exercised inependently and not as part of a team; sedentary students (SS) id neither. CAs were further divided into team-based and ndividual-based sports. Prevalence of alcohol use, binge rinking, cigarette smoking, other tobacco use, marijuana use, nd other drug use were compared between groups using 2 analyses. Results: There were 969 CA (429 males, 540 females; 402 team-based, 565 individual-based), 502 RA (157 males, 344 females), and 166 SS (75 males, 89 females). Alcohol was the dominant substance used, with CA and RA drinking and binge drinking more than SS (alcohol: 86.8% vs. 88.9% vs. 76.3%, p 001; binge drinking: 55.5% vs. 54.9% vs. 39.1%, p .001), with the greatest binge drinking among female RA (53.6%) andmale CA (63.0%). There were no differences in cigarette use. Overall, other tobacco use was greatest in CA and least in RA (7.0% vs. 3.3% vs. 6.4%, p .05)with higher use inmales (14.4% vs. 10.1% vs. 13.0%) than females (1.1% vs. 0.3% vs. 1.2%). Marijuana consumption was least in CA with an increased trend in RA (24.5% vs. 30.4% vs. 25.6%, p .06) with significance found in females (22.3% vs. 30.1% vs. 23.3%, p .05) but not in males. Therewere no differences in other drug use. Overall substance usewas greater in team-based than individual-based athletes, with significant differences in binge drinking (64.3% vs. 43.5%, p .001), cigarette smoking (21.6% vs. 12.5%, p .001), other tobacco use (9.6% vs. 3.3%, p .001), andmarijuana use (30.6% s. 16.1%, p .001), but not in alcohol use or other drug use. Conclusions: Physical activity participation in these university students did not protect against substance use. Collegiate substance use and awareness programs should consider focusing on athletic participants and should consider gender differences as well. Sources of Support: None.