Factors associated with substance use in adolescents admitted to Tara Hospital adolescent unit

Abstract

Background Substance use among the adolescent population has been described as serious public health concern with long-term health, financial and psychosocial consequences. Previous studies have described risk factors associated with the onset of substance use in adolescents. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of substance use and to describe and compare the socio-demographic and clinical profile of adolescent substance users and adolescent substance non-users admitted to the adolescent ward at Tara H. Moross Centre Hospital (Tara). Methods-This was a retrospective comparative record review of all the adolescent patients admitted to Tara Hospital’s adolescent unit over a period of four years from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2015. Records from adolescents between ages of 13 and 18 were included in the study. Results-Overall the total sample consisted of 118 patient records. The prevalence of substance use in this population was 44.1% (n=52), 53.4% (n=63) of the total sample were female and the median age of the total sample was 16 years (IQR=15-16). Cannabis was the predominant choice of substance (n=36, 69.2%) and the majority of the patients reported being introduced to substances by their peers (n=39, 86.4%). When comparing the substance use group and substance non-user group it was found that there was a significant difference between the groups with regards to main caregiver patterns (p=0.012). There was also a significant difference with regards to psychosocial stressors, where the stressor of “conflict with parents” was more common in the substance use group (61.5%, n=32) compared to the substance non-user group (25.8%, n=17, p<0.001). Conclusion This study results are in keeping with the international literature with respect to factors associated with adolescent substance use and substance use patterns. The high prevalence of substance use in this study highlights the important potential role of dual diagnosis programmes for adolescent mental health care users. Family caregiver patterns should be noted in the history, and conflict within the family unit can be viewed as a potential therapeutic target. This study suggests that there is still a need for continuous psychoeducation about substances in families and the community at large.