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Background: We tested the effect of initiating marijuana and alcohol use at varying frequencies on academic indices. Methods: In a sample of 26,475 grade 9-12 students with at least 2 years of linked longitudinal data from year 1 (Y1: 2012-2013), year 2 (Y2: 2013-2014), and year 3 (Y3: 2014-2015) of the COMPASS study, separate multinomial generalized estimating equations models tested the likelihood of responses to measures of academic goals, engagement, preparedness, and performance when shifting from never using alcohol or marijuana at baseline to using them at varying frequencies at follow-up. Results: Students who began using alcohol or marijuana were less likely to attend class regularly, complete their homework, achieve high marks, and value good grades, relative to their abstaining peers. Changing from abstaining to rare/sporadic-to-weekly drinking or rare/sporadic marijuana use predicted aspirations to continue to all levels of higher education, and initiating weekly marijuana use increased the likelihood of college ambitions, while more regular marijuana use reduced the likelihood of wanting to pursue graduate/professional degrees, over high school. Conclusions: The importance of delaying or preventing substance use is evident in associations with student performance and engagement. The influence on academic goals varied by substance and frequency of initiated use.

Background: Despite the importance of breakfast consumption, breakfast skipping is common among Canadian youth. This study examines how changes to school-based breakfast programs are associated with breakfast-skipping behavior. Methods: Using school-level longitudinal data from Year 1 (Y[subscript 1]: 2012-2013) and Year 2 (Y[subscript 2]: 2013-2014) of the COMPASS study, quasi-experimental methods evaluated the impact over time that changes to school-based breakfast programs had on breakfast skipping or participating in school-based breakfast program. Results: Between Y[subscript 1 and Y[subscript 2], the school-level prevalence of breakfast skipping (54.5%-54.9%) and breakfast program participation (12.3%-13.6%) increased. Of the 43 participating schools, 5 implemented a new school breakfast program. Among the intervention schools, 1 school (School 4) observed a significant, and 1 school (School 3) observed a significant increase in the school-level prevalence of skipping breakfast; there was no significant change in the other 3 intervention schools. Conclusions: Despite the availability of free school breakfast programs, the majority of youth skipped breakfast at least once a school week. Owing to the variation in the types of programs implemented, additional evaluation evidence is necessary to determine which students benefited the most from these programs.

The mental health benefits of physical activity may relate more to the context of the behavior, rather than the behavior of being active itself. The association between varsity sport (VS) participation, depression, and anxiety symptoms was explored using data from 70,449 high school students from the Cannabis use, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol use, Smoking, and Sedentary behavior study. The model adjusted for potential covariates; interactions by sex and participation in outside of school sport (OSS) were explored. Overall, 70% and 24% of respondents met or exceeded cutoff values for depression and anxiety, respectively. Students participating in VS had lower symptoms of anxiety and depression compared with nonparticipants. Results were consistent regardless of OSS participation; associations were strongest among students who participated in both VS and OSS and males. Participation in VS may prove beneficial for the prevention and/or management of depression or anxiety symptoms, particularly among males. An additive beneficial effect of OSS on depression and anxiety scores may exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]