Adolescent drug use, psychosocial functioning and spinal pain.

This study tested whether there is an independent relationship between adolescent drug use and neck and shoulder pain (NSP) and back pain (BP) when psychosocial functioning is controlled in a community sample of 1608 14-year-old Australian adolescents. Multivariable logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratios of alcohol and cigarette use for NSP and BP before and after adjusting for a range of psychosocial variables. Results showed that the use of alcohol, but not cigarettes or marijuana, has a significant independent association with adolescent spinal pain. Future research needs to investigate these variables longitudinally to inform interventions for adolescent spinal pain.