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Previous research has shown that parents underestimate their children's substance use. The aim of the present work was to analyze parental estimation of their children's use of alcohol in five countries from northern, central, and southern Europe, and to explore the variables that influenced this perceptual bias. The sample comprised 1,181 parent-children dyads living in Sweden, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Spain, and Portugal. In accordance with the findings of previous studies, we found high parental underestimation of substance use, which was greater for more frequent alcohol use or the use of illegal drugs. This underestimation appears to be subject to some degree of sociocultural influence, and is also influenced by the severity of the children's use.

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The problem of consumption of illicit psychoactive substances by students in higher education is not new, since it is in this age group that the highest prevalence of consumption of these substances continues to occur. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of illicit drug use among university students and to analyze the predictive factors and patterns of illicit drug use among university students in Portugal. A cross-sectional design and a stratified random sampling method were used (n = 840). A validated self-administered questionnaire was used, consisting of socio-demographic characteristics, information about the patterns of illicit drugs consumption, and knowledge and attitudes toward illicit drugs use. The prevalence of illicit drugs consumption was 22.2%, while overall students had a low level of knowledge and moderate scores when it came to the attitudes toward drug use. Being male, having changed residence after entering higher education, having friends who use illicit drugs and possessing knowledge on drugs increased the likelihood of consuming illicit drugs. The results of the study could help develop strategies to reduce use of illicit drugs in academic settings, giving special attention to the influence of peers and students who changed their residence after entering higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

background The mental health of university students has been the subject of great attention from scientific investigations, not only to provide contextualised information, but additionally since high levels of well-being predicted a quality education. This study aims to evaluate the perception of well-being and health of university students, exploring the psychometric properties of the Well-being and Health Perception Scale (WbHPS) and analysing the influence of sociodemographic variables. participants and procedure A questionnaire was applied to a representative sample of 840 university students in Portugal stratified by year of academic attendance and scientific area of study. The WbHPS consists of 5 items measured on a 5-point Likert scale. We considered as explanatory variables the year of study and scientific area, sex, age, love relationship, professional situation and BMI. results The WbHPS showed good psychometric properties, indicating the presence of an explanatory factor of 58.45% of variance and a good internal consistency (a = .81). The obtained results identified WbHPS as being independently associated with being in a love relationship, having a normal weight and not being displaced after starting at university. conclusions It is necessary to (re)think about disease prevention and health promotion actions in higher education, with psychosocial interventions that truly reflect on the well-being and health of university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS) is a major indoor pollutant that causes serious health problems for all exposed, especially children. Children are often exposed to SHS at home, due to parental or other households' or guests' smoking. This study describes Portuguese children's exposure to SHS at home (total and by Portuguese main regions). In 2010/2011, a questionnaire was applied to a sample of Portuguese children in the 4th grade (N=3187, mean age 9.05±0.7 years, 51.1% male). Descriptive analysis, chi-square tests and crude odds ratios were performed. Of the participants, 62.9% of those with smoking parents and 19.2% of those with non-smoking parents were exposed to SHS at their home. Parental smoking varied significantly among regions and was significantly associated with children's exposure to SHS at home. Children's exposure to SHS at home was high, especially if their parents smoke. Children living in Lisbon Region presented the highest SHS exposure rate. The association of SHS exposure with geographic regions suggests the influence of social and contextual factors on smoking behaviour and on tobacco control effectiveness. Our findings highlight the need to effectively prevent children's SHS exposure at their home and to develop tailored tobacco control measures by region., (Copyright © 2014 Sociedade Portuguesa de Pneumologia. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)