1. Social factors associated with drug use in the Mexican school-age population: A comparison of two national surveys.
- Author
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Berenzon, Shoshana, Tiburcio, Marcela, Barragán, Virginia, Fleiz, Clara, Medina-Mora, María Elena, and Villatoro, Jorge
- Subjects
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SUBSTANCE abuse risk factors , *CONFIDENCE intervals , *DRUGS of abuse , *HIGH school students , *HISPANIC Americans , *MIDDLE school students , *SENSORY perception , *QUESTIONNAIRES , *RESEARCH funding , *SUBSTANCE abuse , *DISEASE prevalence , *DATA analysis software , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *ODDS ratio , *ADOLESCENCE - Abstract
Objectives: This study analyses changes in drug use in Mexican junior high and high-school students and identifies differences over two decades in the social factors (availability of drugs, perceptions of risk and social tolerance) associated with such use. Method: Data from two national surveys, conducted in 1991 and 2014, were analysed. Results: Data show that the proportion of students who had tried drugs doubled in 2014. In both surveys, substance use was significantly associated with a high perception of availability and use by friends and older siblings; in 2014, there was a decrease in the perception of risk for marijuana use and an increase in social tolerance toward illegal drugs. Conclusions: It can be inferred from this analysis that public policy to prevent drug use has not had the expected impact, at least not on the social factors considered here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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