Leisure and the use of psychoactive substances in adolescence: Possible relations

Abstract

This study has the following objectives: to find out the leisure activities of adolescents who use drugs and those who don't; to verify possible associates between the use of drugs and leisure in adolescence. Five hundred and sixty nine male and female adolescents ranging from 14 to 20 years old who were attending high school in the city of São Carlos, in the state of São Paulo-Brazil, took part on this study. They answered an anonymous and self-filling questionnaire. The analyses involved: the description of the distribution of the variables in the sample; square-qui test; multiple logistic regression. According to the results, the main differences between the groups were observed in the activities going to clubs/beaches, going out with friends, going to bars, which were more frequent among the drug-addicted, whereas attending to religious services, practicing sports and going out with the family were more frequent among the non-addicted ones. These data may contribute for working out preventive actions against drug addiction, indicating the need of studies about leisure options for adolescents nowadays.