In a context in which sedentary screen time is on the rise and adolescents are less eager to engage in free-time activities, physical and recreational activities, although too often ignored, have proven to be an antidote for a large array of psychological and behavioral problems in adolescents, including drug use. The present study is a cross-sectional investigation of the association between physical and recreational activities, sedentary screen time, and time spent with parents and the intensity of drug use in adolescents. The participants were part of a representative sample of 2677 adolescents from Bucharest, Romania. The results indicate that vigorous physical and recreational activities, as well as time spent with parents, were negatively associated with an index of drug use (13 drugs), while screen time positively predicted the intensity of drug use. These findings raise the question of the involvement of parents and educational authorities in promoting healthy behaviors and good practices for the prevention of drug use and improving public adolescents’ health.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.