Cannabis use in high school adolescents of SousseTunisia: Incidence and predictors

Abstract

Abstract Background Adolescence is a period of physical, psychological and social transformation. It is during adolescence that people are introduced to psychoactive substances such as cannabis. Understanding the predictors of this risk behavior, would help dealing with this problem more efficiently. The current study aimed to determine the incidence and the predictors of cannabis use among high school students in Sousse governorate between 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 Methods A prospective longitudinal study was conducted in four high schools in the governorate of Sousse during the period from 15/09/2017 to 30/06/2019. Pre-tested self-administered questionnaire served to collect data anonymously among participants about their socio-demographic characteristics, cannabis use, tobacco use, use of electronic cigarettes, illicit substances use, sedentary behavior and mental health disorders among them. Results A total of 404 students were included in our study. The average age of participants was 16.4 (±1.1) years. The cumulative incidence of cannabis use among high school students was 2.2%, (95%CI: 0.8%-3.6%). School failure, anxiety problem, cigarette smoking, vaping and illlicit substances use among friends were found to be significantly associated with cannabis experimentation among them. Whereas its most influential factors were: Current cigarette smoking and current vaping with adjusted odds ratio of: 12.9; 95% CI: 2.4-70.2) and 7.2; 95% CI: 1.3-38.8 respectively. Conclusions This study highlights the association between cigarette and e-cigarette smoking and cannabis use. Future prevention interventions should focus on these risk behaviors with regard to the environmental context. Key messages Cannabis use is not rare among the adolescents of Sousse, Tunisia. Adolescents represent vulnerable sub-group that merit special attention regarding substances use.