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. 2025 Aug 18:16:100373.
doi: 10.1016/j.dadr.2025.100373. eCollection 2025 Sep.

The impact of physical activity on substance use experimentation and initiation among adolescents: Results from the ABCD Study® cohort

Christine M Kaiver  1 , Erin L Thompson  1 , Samuel W Hawes  1 , Sarah M Lehman  1 , Ashley R Adams  1 , David Wing  2 , Angela R Laird  3 , Raul Gonzalez  1
Affiliations

The impact of physical activity on substance use experimentation and initiation among adolescents: Results from the ABCD Study® cohort

Christine M Kaiver et al. Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. .

Abstract

Physical Activity (PA) is important for mental, physical, and brain health. Adolescence is marked by increased engagement in risky substance use (SU) behaviors, which can negatively affect brain development. This study aims to determine if PA influences SU experimentation and initiation among adolescents. We predicted higher levels of PA would be associated with less SU, with a larger effect in more vigorous compared to light PA. A sample of 2541 participants from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study provided three weeks of Fitbit-measured PA data at the 2-year follow-up, and SU outcomes at the 3- and 4-year follow-up. SU outcomes of experimentation (i.e., sip/puff/try of alcohol, nicotine, or cannabis) and initiation (i.e., full drink of alcohol, more than a puff/try of nicotine or cannabis, or anything else) were examined dichotomously (i.e., yes/no). Logistic regression analyses were conducted, controlling for demographics, externalizing, and depressive symptoms endorsed on Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Total PA was associated with 24 % decreased odds in SU initiation (OR 0.82, 95 % CI 0.69-0.99, p < .05). After examining PA intensities more closely, light PA predicted 26 % decreased odds of SU initiation (OR 0.73, 95 % CI 0.61-0.88, p = .001). No significant associations emerged between PA and experimentation, or moderate and vigorous PA and initiation. More engagement in total and light PA reduced the odds of SU initiation, suggesting that low-intensity activity, not moderate or vigorous PA, may provide protection against adolescent SU. Future research should examine underlying mechanisms and contextual factors that account for these results.

Keywords: ABCD Study; Adolescence; Physical activity; Substance use; Substance use initiation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Christine M. Kaiver reports financial support was provided by Florida International University. Erin L. Thompson reports financial support was provided by National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Samuel W. Hawes reports financial support was provided by Florida International University. Sarah M. Lehman reports financial support was provided by Florida International University. Ashley R. Adams reports financial support was provided by National Institute on Drug Abuse. David Wing reports financial support was provided by University of California San Diego. Angela R. Laird reports financial support was provided by Florida International University. Raul Gonzalez reports financial support was provided by Florida International University. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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