(PS11-B48) The Association Between Adolescents’ Sports Participation and Substance Use: Parental Support as a Moderator

Research finds links between extracurricular participation and benefits in psychological, behavioral and academic domains. Specifically, sports involvement has been linked to several positive outcomes such as higher self-esteem, social support, and decreased depression. However, despite beneficial findings associated with sports involvement, studies also find positive relations between sports involvement and substance use (SU). No prior research has examined how parental support might change the link between sports involvement and SU. The current study aims to extend this work by examining the relation between sports participation and SU, considering parental support as a potential moderator. Participants were 152 adolescents (74.3% girls) attending a public high school in the U.S. Students’ average age was 15.61 years (SD =1.09). Most participants were White (77.6%), Black (11.8%), or Latinx (11.3%). Support was assessed using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Support (Zimet et al., 1988). SU was assessed using items from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, by asking youth to rate their use of illegal substances in the previous month. Sports involvement was assessed via a single item asking, “In the past year, did you participate in any sports?” rated on a 5-point Likert scale from (1) Never to (5) All the time. Sports participation was significantly predictive of SU (β = .20, SE = 0.09, t(120) = 2.24, p = 0.027). Additionally, parental support was a significant predictor of SU (β = -.26, SE = 0.09, t(120) = -2.92, p = 0.004). Furthermore, parental support moderated the relation between sports participation and SU (β = -.20, SE = 0.08, t(120) = -2.53, p = 0.013). Simple slope analyses revealed that when parental support was low or at the mean, increased sports participation was linked to elevated SU (β = 0.41, SE =0.12, t(120) =3.31, p = 0.00; β = 0.20, SE = 0.09, t(120) =2.24, p = 0.03, respectively). However, when parental support was high, increased sports participation was not associated with an increase in SU (β = -0.02, SE = 0.12, t(120) = -0.13, p = 0.90). Our findings emphasize the protective role parents may play in preventing risky behaviors associated with extracurricular involvement. Parental support may mitigate the links between the external factors of extracurricular participation (i.e., peer norms, bonding, initiation rituals, deviant sub-culture) and substance use. Previous research identifies parental support as a significant protective source against a variety of negative outcomes. Thus, future research needs to examine both the structure of extracurricular activities, exploring how participation facilitates increases in risky behaviors, as well as the role of parents in the lives of youth involved in these activities.