Purpose: Little is known about the risk factors for nonmedical use (NMU) of prescription stimulants among adolescent girls. We aimed to measure the association of nonmedical prescription stimulant use with empirically linked risk factors, including weight control behavior (WCB), gambling, and depressed mood, in pre-teen and teenaged girls.
Methods: We assessed the relationship between age and race, gambling, WCB, depressive mood, and nonmedical prescription stimulant use using multivariable logistic regression. The study sample included 5,585 females, aged 10-18 years, recruited via an entertainment venue intercept method in 10 U.S. metropolitan areas as part of the National Monitoring of Adolescent Prescription Stimulants Study (2008-2011).
Results: NMU of prescription stimulants was reported by 6.6% (n = 370) of the sample. In multivariable logistic regression, 1-year increase in age was associated with a 21% (95% confidence interval [CI]: .15, .28) increase in risk for NMU. Whites and other race/ethnicity girls had 2.67 (CI: 1.85, 3.87) and 1.71 (1.11, 2.65) times higher odds for NMU, compared to African-Americans. Depressive mood (adjusted odds ratio: 2.69, CI: 2.04, 5.57) and gambling (adjusted odds ratio: 1.90, 1.23, 2.92) were associated with increased odds for NMU. A dose-response was identified between WCB and NMU, where girls with unhealthy and extreme WCB were over five times more likely to endorse NMU.
Conclusions: We contribute to the literature linking WCB, depression, gambling, and the NMU of prescription stimulants in any population and uniquely do so among girls.
Keywords: Adolescent; Depression; Eating disorder; Female; Gambling; Nonmedical; Prescription; Stimulant; Teen; Weight control.
Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.