| Statistics on college students' risky behaviors and deaths suggest problematic student alcohol and marijuana use. The problem addressed in this study was that in order to reduce college alcohol and marijuana abuse (thereby reducing negative outcomes) it is important to understand the relationship between substance use and campus involvement defined as non-varsity sports participation, particularly if the relationship runs counter to the social bond theory. The purpose of this quantitative, ex post facto, archived data study was to investigate relationships if any, between college students' alcohol and marijuana use and participation or non-participation in non-varsity sports, controlling for gender, ethnicity, and year in school as applicable to Cherry's (1987) social bond theory. The national sample for this study consisted of National College Health Assessment data from 61,201 students who were randomly selected by their colleges to complete this survey in the 2012 and 2013 fall terms. Two univariate ANOVAs compared the alcohol and marijuana use frequencies of students who do and do not participate in non-varsity sports, controlling for gender, ethnicity, and year in school. Significant differences were found for all variables, although an evaluation of effect size indicated that these effects were not substantial. Therefore, the null hypotheses for both research questions failed to be rejected. These findings conflict with the idea that college athletes and certain demographic groups are unique in regards to alcohol and marijuana use. The findings contributed to social bond theory by challenging its continued relevance and suggesting the possibility of revision. Future research could seek to identify factors that substantially influence the alcohol and marijuana use frequency of college students, and compare the use of these substances between non-varsity athletes and varsity athletes. |
