Prescription Drug Misuse with Alcohol Coingestion among US Adolescents: Youth Experiences, Health-related Factors, and Other Substance Use Behaviors

Abstract

Background While alcohol use and prescription drug misuse (PDM) are common among adolescents, there is relatively little research on coingestion. This is disquieting as polysubstance use has become a major contributing factor in drug overdose deaths among young people in the United States. Methods The current research uses multiple years of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2015–2019) to assess characteristics associated with coingestion among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years (N = 57,352). Multinomial logistic regression analysis is used to identify characteristics associated with past 30-day PDM with and without alcohol coingestion. The primary objective is to determine how youth experiences with parents, involvement in conventional activities, religiosity, social support, and school status are associated with coingestion. Results Among adolescents who report past 30-day PDM, 18.6% coingest with alcohol and 77.5% of adolescents who coingest report at least one substance use disorder. Several youth experiences were significantly associated with opioid coingestion including increased conflict with parents (relative risk ratio [RRR], 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07–1.48), lower levels of religiosity (RRR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.52–0.98), less social support (RRR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.18–0.69), and not being in school (RRR, 3.86; 95% CI, 1.33–11.17). In addition, emergency department visits, depression, and other substance use behaviors were also significantly associated with coingestion. Conclusions Findings demonstrate a strong connection between coingestion and substance use disorder among US adolescents. The findings from the current study can inform prevention and intervention efforts by identifying youth experiences and health-related factors that are associated with coingestion.