The impact of late adolescent substance use on young adult health status and utilization of health services: A structural- equation model over four years

Abstract

This study examined the impact of adolescent substance use on young adult health status and health service utilization, while controlling for earlier subjective and objective health problems and seeking medical care. Data were obtained from 654 participants when they were in late adolescence and 4 years later when they were young adults. Latent-variable models were used to determine what effect, if any, adolescent drug use had on later health. A second-order factor of general drug use had a small, but significant, influence on decreasing subjective physical hardiness over the 4-year period. However, general drug use was not directly related to later physical symptomatology, subjective health problems, or health service utilization. General cigarette use and amount of cigarette smoking were significantly related to a range of health outcomes including increased psychosomatic symptoms, respiratory symptoms, reporting trouble with health, nights spent in the hospital, and health service utilization, as well as decreased subjective physical hardiness. Early cannabis use decreased later subjective physical hardiness and increased health problems experienced over the 4 years. Hard drug use was associated with increased emergency physician visits during adolescence and increased perceived trouble with health as young adults. Due to the fact that adolescent general drug use decreased subjective physical hardiness over 4 years, it is possible that continued substance use might lead to more serious objective health consequences later in life (i.e. physical symptoms).