Adolescent obesity and future substance use: Incorporating the psychosocial context

Abstract

A growing body of work has shown that obese adolescents are at risk of engaging in problematic substance use, but mixed findings highlight the complexity of the relationship. Incorporating the psychosocial context into this research may inform past discrepancies. The current study assessed whether obese adolescents had a higher likelihood of experiencing a psychosocial context that predicted problematic substance use in young adulthood. Latent class analysis on 10,637 adolescents from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) identified four psychosocial classes in adolescence: Adjusted, Deviant Peer/Victimization, Moderate Depression, and Maladjusted. Obese adolescents were more likely to belong to the Maladjusted class, characterized by higher levels of depression and deviant peer affiliation. Those in the Maladjusted class had the second highest levels of cigarette smoking and marijuana use in young adulthood. Obese adolescents’ psychosocial context should be considered in future research linking obesity and substance use.

Understanding the Relationship of Cigarette Smoking Trajectories Through Adolescence and Weight Status in Young Adulthood in the United States

“…We found support for our hypothesis that there is a significant longitudinal relationship of smoking through adolescence into young adulthood on young adult weight status, such that participants in smoking trajectories had a lower BMI in young adulthood than nonsmokers. Our findings are consistent with previous research by Brook et al [18], but conflict with research by Lanza et al [19], which may be a result of the differing approaches and research focuses. Similar to our approach, Brook at al.…”

“…A Finnish study found that smoking during adolescence increased adult obesity risk, but another study found no significant reductions in body weight among United States adolescents three years following smoking initiation [15,17]. Despite extensive research addressing youth obesity and smoking separately [3], to our knowledge, only two studies have looked at the relationship of these two issues from adolescence into young adulthood longitudinally in the US [18,19]. One longitudinal research study utilizing a community-based sample of youth in upstate New York indicated that youth smoking is related to lower BMI in young adulthood [18].…”

“…One longitudinal research study utilizing a community-based sample of youth in upstate New York indicated that youth smoking is related to lower BMI in young adulthood [18]. However, another study using a nationally representative sample of youth found that overweight status during adolescence was associated with greater levels of smoking in young adulthood [19]. The first study used a convenience sample, whereas the second study, which used nationally representative data, looked at obesity over time and the relationship to smoking in young adulthood, rather than smoking over time.…”

Overweight adolescents’ brain response to sweetened beverages mirrors addiction pathways

“…While the goal of this study was to generate results that had the maximum potential for generalization, replication with a larger sample with additional examinations of the role of substance use and psychopathology would strengthen study findings, as smoking and depression rates tend to be elevated in overweight and obese adolescents (Lanza et al 2015). Additionally, our interest in this examination was to examine consummatory response, following Filbey et al (2012); however, future work would benefit from refining the model to examine anticipatory response as well, given the role that anticipatory response to food cues has played in prior studies related to overweight/obesity (Stice et al 2015).…”

Obesity and Cigarette Smoking: Extending the Link to E-cigarette/Vaping Use

“…For instance, higher weight status may increase vulnerability to tobacco and electronic tobacco use through stress and depressive symptoms brought on by weight stigma and poor peer relationships. 27,28 Moreover, researchers have reported that young adults perceive electronic tobacco use as a useful socialization tool. 7,8,10 Furthermore, physiological links between obesity and tobacco use, specifically the shared dopaminergic neurological response activated by food and nicotine ‘rewards’ 29–31 may explain behaviors like using tobacco as a weight loss strategy.…”