Public Health - Masters by Research Theses
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Item The home life environment and organised extracurricular activities: associations with adolescent drug use in Ireland(University College Cork, 2023) Daly, Fionn Patrick; Barrett, Peter; Millar, Seán R.Introduction: Adolescent drug use is a major public health concern in many countries, including Ireland. Although drug use during adolescence may lead to a plethora of adverse sequelae, no study has examined how the home life environment, and involvement in extracurricular activities, can influence drug use among teenagers in Ireland. Aim: To identify the various home life environment factors and organised extracurricular activities that are associated with adolescent cannabis and stimulant (cocaine and/or ecstasy) use. Methods: The Planet Youth: Growing Up in the West 2020 survey was an anonymous, self-completed questionnaire among post-Junior cycle school-going adolescents in counties Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon. The study herein is compartmentalised into two data chapters: (1) cannabis and (2) stimulant (cocaine and/or ecstasy) use among study participants, and these comprised our outcomes. In relation to cannabis, outcomes were categorised as (i) cannabis use more than 12 months ago, (ii) cannabis use within the previous 12 months but not 30 days, (iii) cannabis use within the previous 30 days, and (iv) never used cannabis. For stimulants, the binary outcomes were lifetime use of (i) cocaine (yes/no) and/or (ii) ecstasy (yes/no). The same exposure variables of interest were examined for cannabis and stimulant use outcomes. These comprised of four home life environment factors (parental rule-setting, parental monitoring, intergenerational closure, and being outside after midnight in the previous week), and participation in four potential organised extracurricular activities (sports, arts, volunteering, and/or afterschool clubs). All adolescents who had complete data pertaining to age, gender, and drug use were included. For cannabis and stimulant use, multinomial and binomial logistic regression analyses, respectively, were undertaken to examine which exposure variables of interest were associated with our outcomes, controlling for potential confounders. Results: In total, 908 (18.5%) adolescents had previously used cannabis. Specifically, 182 (3.7%) had used cannabis more than a year ago, 361 (7.4%) had used cannabis within the last year but not within the previous 30 days, while 365 (7.5%) had used cannabis within the past 30 days. Furthermore, 167 (3.4%) and 136 (2.8%) had previously used cocaine and ecstasy, respectively. Being outside after midnight in the previous week, as well as a lack of parental monitoring, were associated with increased odds of cannabis use across all cannabis outcome categories. A lack of parental rule-setting was associated with cannabis use within the previous 30 days (AOR1.27, 95%CI1.14-1.41). A lack of intergenerational closure was associated with cannabis use within the previous year but not 30 days (AOR1.37, 95%CI1.24-1.52), and within the previous 30 days (AOR1.47, 95%CI1.33-1.63). Not regularly participating in sports was associated with cannabis use within the previous year but not 30 days (AOR1.28, 95%CI1.02-1.61), and within the previous 30 days (AOR1.49, 95%CI1.18-1.88). Not regularly volunteering was also associated with cannabis within the previous 12 months but not 30 days (AOR1.47, 95%CI1.10-1.95), and within the previous 30 days (AOR1.55, 95%CI1.15-2.08). Moreover, being outside after midnight during the previous week was associated with lifetime stimulant use (cocaine AOR5.63, 95%CI3.98-7.97; ecstasy AOR6.37, 95%CI4.36-9.30). A lack of parental rule-setting (cocaine AOR1.28, 95%CI1.10-1.50; ecstasy AOR1.39, 95%CI1.17-1.64), parental monitoring (cocaine AOR1.81, 95%CI1.58-2.06; ecstasy AOR2.15, 95%CI1.86-2.48), and intergenerational closure (cocaine AOR1.37, 95%CI1.18-1.58; ecstasy AOR1.57, 95%CI1.34-1.83) were associated with lifetime stimulant use. Regular participation in sports was linked with reduced odds of cocaine (AOR1.50, 95%CI1.06-2.11) and ecstasy (AOR1.54, 95%CI1.05-2.27) use. Conclusion: Cannabis and stimulants are relatively common among adolescents in Ireland by European standards, particularly cocaine. Users of cannabis and stimulants share several characteristics, primarily in relation to the home life environment. Involvement in certain organised extracurricular activities may reduce the likelihood of teenage drug use. These findings may inform the development of prevention interventions in the western region of Ireland.