Caracterización sociodemográfica y familiar frente al consumo de sustancias psicoactivas en adolescentes Colombia

Abstract

The consumption of psychoactive substances is a growing problem throughout the world and particularly in Colombia, where the increasing consumption is evident at increasingly younger ages, becoming a public health problem. The objective of this study is to identify the association between the consumption of psychoactive substances, the level of family functioning and sociodemographic variables in schoolchildren between 12 and 17 years of age in Colombia. By carrying out a descriptive and cross- sectional study based on the results of the 2015 National Mental Health Survey, which had a probabilistic sample design, stratified by age and multi-stage with national and regional representativeness. The results obtained demonstrated that the main sociodemographic variables associated with the highest prevalence of substance use were: Urbanized areas and the fact of being in school. Additionally, an association between age and consumption is identified, since the older, the greater the consumption of substances. A discrepancy is observed between what is proposed by the traditional literature contrasted with that observed in the present study. It is considered a future research needs to carry out analytical and longitudinal studies in order to observe the behavior of associated variables in individuals over the years, and to define whether in those people in whom risk factors were identified, over the years, they persist or vary.