Is alcohol mixed with energy drinks consumption associated with susceptibility to smoking?

Objective: This paper examines whether adolescent students in Canada who have never smoked but who drink alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) are more susceptible to smoking than those who do not consume AmED. Methods: A nationally representative sample of 15,875 never-smoking students in grades 9 to 12 from the 2010-2011 Canadian Youth Smoking Survey is used. The association between AmED and susceptibility to smoking is examined using a logistic regression. Results: About 28% of the never-smoking adolescents in grades 9 to 12 are susceptible to smoking, and 13% report using AmED. Results of the adjusted logistic regression analysis show a statistically significant positive association between consuming AmED and susceptibility to smoking. Never-smoking students who reported using AmED are more susceptible to smoking when compared with those who have not consumed AmED (OR. = 1.89; 95% CI. = 1.71-2.10). Similar results are obtained when the analysis is stratified by gender. Conclusions: The consumption of AmED is associated with higher odds of smoking susceptibility among Canadian adolescents. AmED use could be a potential marker for smoking susceptibility among never-smoking adolescents. •Association between use of alcohol mixed with energy drinks and smoking susceptibility among high school students is examined.•Use of alcohol mixed with energy drinks is associated with smoking susceptibility.•Similar results are found when the analysis is stratified by gender.