Digital Screen Usage Association to Substance Use in YRBSS High School Students
Abstract
Introduction and Objective. Adolescent substance abuse is a serious problem as it can negatively impact academic performance and health. Identification of risk factors can help define intervention targets. Digital devices that act as nexuses for social interaction and media exposure are understudied as a possible risk factor. Objective. Examine if there is an association between substance abuse and electronic device use in American high schoolers Methods. Using the YRBSS 2019 survey a cross sectional study compared the association between levels of screen time use (≥ 3 vs.day) to illicit drug use, alcohol use, and smoking. Separated analyses were conducted for each outcome. Adjusted analysis was performed for potential confounders by fitting binary unconditional multiple logistic regression models. Results. The total number of respondents with valid information on screen time was 13,177 which was further subdivided into 3 groups by which additionally had valid answers for the 3 outcomes of interest. There were 10,154 valid responses for illicit drug use, 11,493 for smoking, and 12,379 for alcohol. Prior to adjustment, odds of drug use among adolescents with high screen were higher (OR=1.20; 95%CI=1.02-1.41) and no association between high screen time and either smoking or alcohol use was found. After adjustment, the association between drug use and high screen use was no longer significant (1.19, 95%CI 0.93-1.52). For alcohol the unadjusted OR was 1.04 with a 95% CI=0.91-1.18 and after adjustment was 1.19 with a 95% CI=0.97-1.36. For smoking the unadjusted OR was 1.04 with a 95%CI=0.91-1.20 and the adjusted OR was 1.09 with a 95%CI=0.91-1.30). Conclusions-Implications. The study didn’t find evidence of a significant association between increased screen time and substance use. Further research could elaborate on findings here by subclassifying screen usage into various forms such as social media and explore if associations to substance use emerge. Additionally, there were significant associations to other variables such as sadness/hopelessness and sexual minority status that warrant further investigation.
Keywords
substance use, adolescent
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Digital Screen Usage Association to Substance Use in YRBSS High School Students
Introduction and Objective. Adolescent substance abuse is a serious problem as it can negatively impact academic performance and health. Identification of risk factors can help define intervention targets. Digital devices that act as nexuses for social interaction and media exposure are understudied as a possible risk factor. Objective. Examine if there is an association between substance abuse and electronic device use in American high schoolers Methods. Using the YRBSS 2019 survey a cross sectional study compared the association between levels of screen time use (≥ 3 vs.day) to illicit drug use, alcohol use, and smoking. Separated analyses were conducted for each outcome. Adjusted analysis was performed for potential confounders by fitting binary unconditional multiple logistic regression models. Results. The total number of respondents with valid information on screen time was 13,177 which was further subdivided into 3 groups by which additionally had valid answers for the 3 outcomes of interest. There were 10,154 valid responses for illicit drug use, 11,493 for smoking, and 12,379 for alcohol. Prior to adjustment, odds of drug use among adolescents with high screen were higher (OR=1.20; 95%CI=1.02-1.41) and no association between high screen time and either smoking or alcohol use was found. After adjustment, the association between drug use and high screen use was no longer significant (1.19, 95%CI 0.93-1.52). For alcohol the unadjusted OR was 1.04 with a 95% CI=0.91-1.18 and after adjustment was 1.19 with a 95% CI=0.97-1.36. For smoking the unadjusted OR was 1.04 with a 95%CI=0.91-1.20 and the adjusted OR was 1.09 with a 95%CI=0.91-1.30). Conclusions-Implications. The study didn’t find evidence of a significant association between increased screen time and substance use. Further research could elaborate on findings here by subclassifying screen usage into various forms such as social media and explore if associations to substance use emerge. Additionally, there were significant associations to other variables such as sadness/hopelessness and sexual minority status that warrant further investigation.