Socio-Demographic Factors and Substance Use in Adolescence

The emergence of risky behavior is characteristic in adolescence. Of all forms of risky behavior in adolescence, the use of psychoactive substances – cigarettes, alcohol and illegal psychoactive substances particularly stand out, because of the frequency and degree of prevalence of use, and because of the impact that they have on youth development in this sensitive stage of growing up. Unfortunately, today we are witnessing the fact that such behavior in adolescents has gained an increasingly epidemic character mainly due to the characteristics of the social context in which young people are growing up. The main objective of this research, conducted in the framework of the doctoral dissertation of the author, was determining relations between relevant socio-demographic factors: gender, age, school success, financial status and place of residence of respondents, with the appearance and intensity of use of three types of psychoactive substances – cigarettes, alcohol and illegal psychoactive substances among the general population of adolescents. The sample represents non-clinical young population, and it consists of 529 adolescents, students of the 2nd and 4th class of secondary school (17 and 18 years old). The data was collected by using Scale use of PAS (psychoactive substances) in adolescents, which was designed for the purpose of this research, as well as using a set of questions intended for the registration of socio-demographic variables. Respondents filled in questionnaires in groups, during the school lessons. The data show a relationship between the three studied socio-demographic variables with the occurrence and degree of use of psychoactive substances in the adolescence period, such as gender, age and school success of the respondents. As regards gender of respondents associated with the occurrence and degree of alcohol and illegal substance use in adolescents, male adolescents more likely use alcohol and illegal psychoactive substances. Age of respondents associated with the use of all three types of psychoactive substances in adolescence, found that older adolescents were more likely to use cigarettes, alcohol and illegal psychoactive substances. School success of the respondents is associated with the occurrence and degree of use of all three tested categories of psychoactive substances – cigarettes, alcohol and drugs, and the obtained findings indicate that with the decline in school success, the prevalence of all three types of psychoactive substances increases in adolescence. Besides the theoretical significance, the applicability of the findings is reflected in the field of primary prevention and health protection of youth.