Sports Participation and Alcohol Use Among Adolescents: The Impact of Measurement and Other Research Design Elements

Introduction: Sports participation, while offering numerous developmental benefits for adolescents, has been associated with alcohol use in prior research. However, the relationship between sports participation and alcohol use among adolescents remains unclear, particularly how research design elements impact evidence of this relationship. We reviewed the evidence regarding sports participation and alcohol use among adolescents, with a focus on examining the potential impact of research design elements on this evidence. Methods: Studies were assessed for eligibility and coded based on research design elements including: study design, sampling method, sample size, and measures of sports participation and alcohol use. Results: Fifty-four studies were assessed for eligibility, 29 of which were included in the review. Nearly two-thirds used a cross-sectional design and a random sampling method, with sample sizes ranging from 178 to 50,168 adolescents (Median = 1,769). Sixteen studies used a categorical measure of sports participation, while 7 applied an index-type measure and 6 employed some other measure of sports participation. Most studies assessed alcohol-related behaviors (n = 18) through categorical measures, while only 6 applied frequency only measures of alcohol use, 1 study applied quantity only measures, and 3 studies used quantity and frequency measures. Conclusions: Sports participation has been defined and measured in various ways, most of which do not differentiate between interscholastic and community-based contexts, confounding this relationship. Stronger measures of both sports participation and alcohol use need to be applied in future studies to advance our understanding of this relationship among youths.