A Network Analysis of Substance Consumption Patterns among Students of Public Schools in Mozambique

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the main patterns of alcohol and tobacco consumption among adolescents and its risk factors. Participants were 208 eighth, ninth, and tenth-grade students (65.3% female, 34.7% male) in Maputo, Mozambique, whose ages ranged from 12 to 18 years old (M=14.88; SD=1.29). The study sought to investigate the association between sociodemographic features, academic performance, positive and negative beliefs about drugs, and its consumption patterns among teenagers in Mozambique through network analyses. The results showed high alcohol consumption with early-onset, in the age group ranging from 11 to 13 years old. The frequency of tobacco consumption is related to understanding the positive aspects of smoking, expansiveness, and confidence. The present study contributes to the knowledge of the prevalence of these substances’ consumption in the school community. It may be useful to design strategies for prevention and intervention on alcohol and tobacco consumption by adolescents. The key limitations are the sample exclusively from Maputo and the cross-sectional design. Future studies should thus investigate the patterns of licit and illicit drug consumption among teenagers from other places and use a longitudinal design.