By News Staff
August 2, 2016 -- Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School
of Public Health with collaborators at the Federal University of Sao
Paulo studied the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and patterns
of substance use among high school students in Brazil and found that
respondents with clinically significant scores on a behavioral screening
questionnaire were more likely to use alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana
in the past month compared to those without symptoms.
The study is among
the first to highlight the link between psychiatric symptoms and
substance use among teenagers in a middle-income country with high
levels of social inequalities. The paper is published online in The American Journal on Addictions.
Results were based on data collected from 4,034 high school students
in the 10th to 12th grades at 128 public and private schools in São
Paulo between September 2013 and December 2013. The students, who were
between the ages of 15 and 18, self-reported on alcohol, tobacco, and
marijuana substance use patterns in the prior month. Most of the
students were female and from public schools. The researchers controlled
for gender and socio-economic status.
The findings showed that 44 percent of the students had no
psychiatric symptoms, 8 percent showed some symptoms and 49 percent
reported clinically significant symptoms. Past-month alcohol use was
reported at 38 percent; only 2 percent of students used alcohol
frequently. Tobacco use rates were 9 percent and 2 percent, for
past-month and frequent use, respectively. Among marijuana users in the
past month, the rate was 7 percent, and 2 percent for frequent users.
Respondents with a clinically significant score on the behavioral
survey, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for young children
and adolescents, or SDQ, were more likely to be past-month alcohol
users, past-month tobacco users, and past-month marijuana users as
compared to those without symptoms. Substance use varied by psychiatric
symptoms; researchers looked at emotional symptoms, conduct problems,
hyperactivity, peer relationships, and positive social behavior.
"Studies to determine which specific mental health symptoms are
associated with substance use among adolescents in different settings
are crucial," noted Silvia Martins, MD, PhD, associate professor of
Epidemiology. "In developing countries such as Brazil where a wide gap
of social inequalities is observed, this is particularly important.
Mental health policies should focus on these populations, especially
since providing early treatment for psychiatric symptoms may have a
direct impact on mental health prevalence and its costs among adults."
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