Analysis of the psychological causes of early substance use among adolescents in school and university settings

Abstract

Experimentation with psychoactive substances (PAS), such as alcohol, tobacco or cannabis, is common in adolescence, and continues to pose a public health issue that can lead to failure at school and university. Most of the work on these issues focuses on addiction-related aspects, and little on the underlying causes of addiction. This article sheds psycho-social theoretical light on the causes of first-time use of APS, and cannabis in particular. It is particularly aimed at school nurses and university preventive medicine nurses.