Sports participation and alcohol use among adolescents: The impact of measurement and other research design elements

Introduction: Adolescent alcohol use is a public health concern in the United States. Alcohol use is associated with many of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in this age group. Sports participation, while offering many benefits for adolescents, has been associated with alcohol use in past research. Nevertheless, the relationship between sports participation and alcohol use among adolescents remains unclear, particularly how research design elements impact evidence of this relationship. Objective: This study examined the influence of research design elements on findings from research investigating the relationship between sports participation and alcohol use among adolescents. Methods: A review of research investigating sports participation and alcohol use among adolescents was conducted. Specifically, studies were classified based on design elements including measures of sports participation, study design, sampling, and alcohol-related outcomes examined. Data on alcohol use collected among school-based sports participants in Southwest Georgia were also compared to National and Georgia Youth Risk Behavior Survey data, which have been frequently used to examine alcohol use among adolescent sports participants. Conclusions: Evidence for the relationship between sports participation and alcohol use among adolescents may be influenced by research design elements, particularly different measures and classifications of sports participation. In existing research, sports participation has been defined and measured in various ways, most of which do not differentiate between school- and non-school-based sports, possibly confounding our understanding of this relationship. A closer examination of the distinction between participation in school-based sports and sports in community-based contexts should be prioritized in future research.