Sport, Peers and Substance Use.

This paper explores the relationship between sport participation and adolescents alcohol and substance use in the context of other peer activities. Focusing on sport participation we analyze data from a nationally representative sample of Icelandic adolescents, exploring the variation in the use of alcohol and illegal drugs between three different types of adolescents subcultures taking both the family and the school context into consideration. The findings show that alcohol and substance use varies significantly between peer groups, based on what kind of leisure patterns they engage in. More importantly, the findings show that adolescent engaging in sports are less likely to use alcohol and drugs even if they come in contact with alcohol and drug using peers. The findings suggest that it is important to understand adolescents' sport in the context of other peer leisure activities that define the modern adolescent society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]