Polysubstance Use Among First-Year NCAA College Student-Athletes

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to investigate polysubstance use among college student-athletes and determine whether use is independent of gender, race, season status, and athletic division. College student-athletes responded to questions related to their past-30-day use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drugs. Findings suggest that polysubstance use differs significantly by gender, race, season status, and athletic division. Although a majority of college student-athletes do not engage in polysubstance use, it is reported more frequently for alcohol and tobacco, and alcohol and marijuana. Due to serious consequences associated with polysubstance use, practitioners should consider expanding prevention and treatment efforts to address polysubstance use.

KEYWORDS:

• college student-athletes
• polysubstance use

Additional information

Funding

A grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) R44 DA023735-02A2 provided funding to collect the data analyzed in this study. The authors declare no conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.