Substance use in childhood and adolescence and its associations with quality of life and behavioral strengths and difficulties

Table 4 Associations between substance use and behavioral difficulties and strengths (SDQ)

Sample n = 1536		Prosocial Behavior	Hyperactivity/Inattention	Emotional symptoms	Conduct problems	Peer problems
Current cigarette use	b	−0.82	0.85	−0.03	0.95 ^a	0.20
	CI	−1.23 – −0.41	0.37 – 1.34	−0.50 – 0.43	0.64 – 1.27	−0.20 – 0.59
	p	< 0.001***	0.001 **	0.91	< 0.001 ***	0.41
Frequent cigarette use	b	−0.84	0.86	0.02	1.11 ^a	0.01
	CI	−1.31 – −0.36	0.30 – 1.42	−0.51 – 0.56	0.75 – 1.47	−0.44 – 0.47
	p	0.001 **	0.005 **	0.94	< 0.001 ***	0.96
Current alcohol use	b	0.02	0.11	0.05	0.19	−0.09
	CI	−0.22 – 0.26	−0.17 – 0.40	− 0.22 – 0.33	0.00 – 0.37	−0.32 – 0.14
	p	0.90	0.52	0.76	0.07	0.54
Frequent alcohol use	b	−0.07	0.19	−0.23 ^b	0.48	−0.16
	CI	−0.54 – 0.41	−0.37 – 0.75	− 0.77 – 0.30	0.11 – 0.84	−0.61 – 0.29
	p	0.84	0.59	0.48	0.02 *	0.58
Current cannabis use	b	−0.85	0.76	0.31	0.94	0.06
	CI	−1.43 – −0.28	0.08 – 1.44	−0.34 – 0.96	0.50 – 1.37	−0.49 – 0.62
	p	0.007 **	0.04 *	0.43	< 0.001 ***	0.85

All associations are adjusted for gender, age, and SES
Current use: Child currently consumes cigarettes, alcohol, or cannabis at least once per month (Additional file 1); frequent use: Child currently consumes cigarettes or alcohol at least once per week (Additional file 1)
CI Confidence interval, OR Odds ratio
*** p < .001; ** p < .01; * p < .05.1
^aSignificant interaction with age indicated stronger (negative) associations in early than in late adolescence
^bSignificant interaction with age indicated stronger (negative) associations in childhood than in late adolescence