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Substance use and weight loss tactics among middle school youth
Author(s) -
Garry Joseph P.,
Morrissey Susan L.,
Whetstone Lauren M.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.10112
Subject(s) - pill , substance use , psychology , weight loss , logistic regression , demography , youth risk behavior survey , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , medicine , obesity , poison control , environmental health , injury prevention , sociology , pharmacology
Objective Diet pills (DP) and vomiting or laxative (VL) use as weight loss tactics are associated with substance use in older adolescent populations. This study examined the association of weight loss tactics and substance use among middle school students. Methods A Youth Risk Behavior Survey was administered to 6,957 middle school students in eastern North Carolina. Multiple logistic regression examined substance use as predictors of DP and VL use. Results DP and VL use was reported by 6.0% and 7.1% of students, respectively, with each reported more frequently by females and White students. Regression analysis demonstrated alcohol, cigarette, or marijuana use as predictors for individual race/gender groups whereas steroid use was a predictor for all race/gender groups. We found a clustering effect of alcohol and cigarette use with both DP and VL use. Discussion Substance use is associated with weight loss tactics as early as middle school. More research in the areas of clustering of behaviors and age at onset is needed. © 2002 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 33: 55–63, 2003.