Physical Activity and the Development of Substance Use Disorders: Current Knowledge and Future Directions

Abstract

Physical activity and exercise are positive health behaviors that have been shown to reduce the risk of physical and psychological diseases. There is a strong rationale that physical activity could be a protective factor against the development of substance use disorders (SUDs), which include some of the most common mental health conditions such as tobacco and alcohol use disorder. This review examined the epidemiological literature to describe the associations of physical activity and substance use across the lifespan. The findings indicated that physical activity is positively associated with current and future alcohol use but negatively associated with tobacco and other drug use, with the strongest support originating from adolescent and young adult samples. Considerably less data exist on physical activity and other drug use in later life. Limitations in previous studies, such as the indeterminate measurement of physical activity and absence of clinical SUD endpoints, should be addressed in future investigations to provide clarity regarding the strength and directions of these relationships among different substances and populations.

24-h Movement Guidelines and Substance Use among Adolescents: A School-Based Cross-Sectional Study

“…Whereas among girls, adherence to the physical activity recommendation only or all three recommendations was associated with lower odds of cannabis use. Our results are somewhat consistent with previous studies indicating a negative association between physical activity and cannabis use [ 15 ]. For example, Wichstrøm and Wichstrøm [ 71 ] found that participation in team sports and endurance sports may reduce later cannabis use.…”

“…This is the first study to examine the association between all possible combinations of screen time, sleep duration, and physical activity with substance use among adolescents. Past research has mainly focused on investigating the associations between a single recommendation of the guidelines and substance use among adolescents [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 32 ], ignoring how these behaviors may concurrently relate to substance use among adolescents. We observed that different combinations of the guideline recommendations were associated with all substance use differentially between type of recommendation met, type of substance use, and gender, as well as age for cannabis use.…”

“…These findings are contrary to our hypothesis that adherence to the 24-h movement guidelines would be negatively associated with substance use among adolescents and deserve further investigation. There is compelling evidence that physical activity, particularly competitive sport, is positively associated with current and future alcohol use among adolescents and young adults [ 15 , 68 ]. Research has also suggested that adolescents who play sports intensively drink more than those who practice sports in moderation [ 69 ], and those who participated in group sports drink more than those who participated as individuals [ 70 , 71 ].…”

“…In general, active living and sufficient sleep duration have many health benefits and contribute substantially to the quality of life across the lifespan [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. More specifically, physical activity, screen time, and sleep duration have been associated with the use of a variety of substances such as cigarette, alcohol, and cannabis [ 15 , 16 ]. For example, Ströhle et al [ 17 ] found that adolescents who exercised daily or several times per week had a reduced prevalence of having any substance use disorder in the past 12 months compared with adolescents who exercised ≤1 time per month.…”

Prospective Analysis of Prevalence, Trajectories of Change, and Correlates of Cannabis Misuse in Older Adolescents from Coastal Touristic Regions in Croatia

“…The study by Torstveit and al, which included more than 3200 junior-high and high-school students in southern Norway, found that organized sport participation was consistently associated with decreased odds of unhealthy lifestyle habits, including cannabis misuse [47]. Brellenthin et al reviewed the epidemiological literature to describe the associations of physical activity and substance misuse across the lifespan and concluded that physical activity is negatively associated with drug use [48]. With regard to cannabis consumption, some studies reported no relationship and some reported positive associations (i.e., protective effect of sport); however, in other studies, authors highlighted negative associations between sports participation and marijuana use [19,49,50].…”