Abstract
This aim of this paper is to determine the relationship between the consumption of tobacco, cannabis, and alcohol (including drunkenness and binge drinking consumption patterns) in the previous 30 days by Spanish adolescents and the information that is available to adolescents on drug consumption. This cross-sectional study employed data from the Survey on Drug Use in Secondary Education in Spain (ESTUDES 2016), which was conducted on students aged 14 to 18 (n = 35,369). Contingency tables, mean comparison tests, and logistic regression analyses were conducted and prevalence ratios (PR) were obtained. The results show that the probability that an adolescent will smoke tobacco is associated with whether their mother and/or father smoke (PR: 1.30), whether some of their friends smoke (PR: 14.23), whether the majority of their friends smoke (PR: 94.05) and how well informed they perceive themselves to be (PR: 1.30). Cannabis use is mainly associated with whether most of their friends also use cannabis (PR: 93.05) and whether they are sufficiently informed regarding this consumption (PR: 1.59). Alcohol consumption is associated with whether their mothers drink regularly (PR: 1.21), whether most of their friends drink (PR: 37.29), and whether they are well informed (PR: 1.28). Getting drunk and binge drinking are associated with whether their friends have these behaviors (PR: 44.81 and 7.36, respectively) and whether they are sufficiently informed (PR: 1.23 for both behaviors). In conclusion, the consumption of these substances is more frequent among Spanish adolescents who believe that they are better informed and whose friends have similar patterns of consumption.
Highlights
The consumption of alcohol and other substances by adolescents is a public health issue in Spain.This is despite the fact that the ESTUDES survey (1994–2016) showed a decrease in the consumption of various substances
Our analyses show that a high percentage of adolescents believe that few or no problems are caused by smoking 1–5 cigarettes a day (27.5%), smoking electronic cigarettes (44.6%), drinking five or six beers or other alcoholic beverages at weekends (36.2%), drinking one or two beers or other alcoholic beverages every day (39%), and smoking hashish/marijuana occasionally
For comparison purposes, we have used data on their friends’ frequency of consumption, which allows for us to roughly determine the association between the adolescents’ prevalence ratios and their friends’ consumption. Regardless of their age, teenage boys and teenage girls both who perceive themselves to be well-informed have the highest prevalence of alcohol, cigarette and cannabis consumption in the previous 30 days
Summary
The consumption of alcohol and other substances by adolescents is a public health issue in Spain. This is despite the fact that the ESTUDES survey (1994–2016) showed a decrease in the consumption of various substances. Data from the historical series of the survey show, for example, that the consumption of alcohol (always in the previous 30 days) dropped from 75.1% to 67% among Spanish teenagers between 1994 and 2016, while the consumption of cigarettes decreased from 31.1% to 23%. The consumption of cannabis dropped from its historical maximum of 25.1% in 1994 to 13.1% in 2016. According to the last two surveys (that were conducted in 2014 and 2016), the prevalence of consumption of the following illegal substances
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