How Do College Students Use Their Free Time? A Latent Profile Analysis of Leisure Activities and Substance Use

Abstract

College is a critical period of transition to independence and the substantial amount of time that students have to participate in leisure activities may be conducive to substance use. However, little is known about the associations between leisure activities and substance use over time, or whether these associations differ by residential status (i.e. living with parents vs. on their own). Using latent profile analysis, this study found six distinct profiles of leisure activity participation in a racially/ethnically diverse sample of college students (N = 1207). Overall, profiles with medium levels of leisure activity participation were associated with more alcohol use, heavy drinking, and marijuana use one year later; whereas profiles with the lowest levels of leisure activity participation were associated with more cigarette use 1 year later. Identifying mechanisms through which leisure activities influence substance use can help inform prevention efforts to either reduce risks associated with participation or support protective effects.

Keywords:

• College students
• leisure activities
• substance use

8. Data availability statement

The analysis code and materials used in this manuscript are available upon request. The raw data contained in this manuscript are not openly available due to privacy restrictions set forth by the institutional ethics board, but can be obtained from the corresponding author following the completion of a privacy and fair use agreement. No aspects of the study were pre-registered.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the districts and schools who participated and supported this project. We would also like to thank survey research group for overseeing the web-based surveys.

Additional information

Funding

Data collection efforts and work on this paper were supported by two grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA016577; R01AA020883) awarded to Elizabeth J. D'Amico.