Risk/protective factors and prevalence of psychoactive substance use in high school adolescents from the "Instituto Nacional de Occidente" León, June-May

Abstract

The research focused on determining the age of onset, risk/protection factors, prevalence and incidence of the consumption of legal and illegal psychoactive substances. The methodology of the CICAD-OAS-SIDUC (drug surveillance system in the hemisphere) used in national, Latin American and Caribbean studies was used. This thesis contains a clinical epidemiological approach in public health based on a descriptive cross-sectional study with a population consisting of 1,116 adolescent students and a representative sample of 286 schoolchildren of both sexes, the SIDUC standardized questionnaire was applied with predetermined indicators to measure prevalence rates and consumption patterns. Results and conclusions show that among legal drugs, alcohol has the highest prevalence among students: experimental use 45.5%, recent 28.3% and current 19.9%, followed by tobacco, among illicit drugs marijuana has the highest prevalence: experimental use 13.6%, recent 6.3% and current 2.8%, followed by cocaine. The prevalences indicate higher percentages of consumption among males, the evening shift, the tenth grade and ages between 15-17 years. Risk factors are the street and social events, the increasingly younger ages of onset, with a mean age of 11.6 years, and the peer environment. Positive future expectations and the perception of "great risk" towards drug use are protective factors for students.

UNIVERSITAS (León): Scientific Journal of UNAN León Vol.5(1) 2014, pp 126-145