Drug Use Patterns and Associated Problems Among Adolescent Offenders

Abstract This study aimed to characterize a sample of adolescents in conflict with the law regarding substance use and potential associated problems. The sample consisted of 120 male adolescents aged 13 to 18 in custody at the Initial Care Unit from Fundação CASA (Center for Adolescent Socio-Educational Care) in the state of São Paulo, who responded to the Drug Use Screening Inventory - Revised (DUSI-R). Descriptive analyses indicated that most adolescents were reported to have used marijuana (84%) and alcohol (54%). Regarding the pattern of consumption, 52% were categorized as abusive use or probable dependence. Regarding the problems associated with consumption, participants showed a higher mean density than the normative population in the ten domains investigated by the DUSI-R, with emphasis on Disorders (M = 42), School (M = 50), and Peers (M = 55). It is worth noting that 37% of the sample declared themselves abstainers and that the deviations of the problem densities suggest high heterogeneity in the levels of needs/difficulties, which implies overcoming discourses that promote the uniformity of this population.

摘要：本研究旨在刻画涉法青少年群体的物质使用状况及其潜在关联问题特征。研究样本为圣保罗州Fundação CASA青少年社会教育照护中心（Center for Adolescent Socio-Educational Care）初始照护单元收押的120名13至18岁男性青少年，所有受试者均完成了《药物使用筛查问卷修订版（Drug Use Screening Inventory - Revised, DUSI-R）》的作答。描述性分析结果显示，绝大多数受试者报告曾使用大麻（84%）与酒精（54%）。在物质使用模式方面，52%的青少年被归类为物质滥用或存在疑似依赖。针对物质使用相关的伴随问题，受试者在DUSI-R评估的10个领域中的问题得分均值均高于常模人群，其中以障碍领域（M=42）、学业领域（M=50）与同伴关系领域（M=55）最为突出。值得注意的是，37%的受试者自称无物质使用史；问题得分的离散程度提示，受试者的需求与困难水平存在高度异质性，这表明需摒弃将该群体视为同质化整体的既有论述。