Impact of alcohol and alcohol mixed with energy drinks on non-medical prescription stimulant use in a nationally representative sample of 12th-grade students

Background and Objectives Approximately 30% of high school students use energy drinks. Alcohol use and alcohol mixed with energy drink use (AmED) is associated with risky behavior, including non‐medical prescription stimulant use. We assessed alcohol‐only, AmED and non‐medical prescription stimulant use among 12th grade students in the U.S. using a nationally representative secondary data from the 2012 Monitoring the Future Study. Methods Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney tests and logistic regression analyses were used to determine differences in non‐medical prescription stimulant use by students who used alcohol‐only versus AmED and to identify covariates of non‐medical prescription stimulant use. Pearson‐product moment coefficients were used to determine strength of variable relationships. Results Significant differences were found in frequency of Ritalin (p