Relationship between mental health and use of psychoactive substances in students

Abstract Adolescence is a developmental stage of great exposure and vulnerability to risk behaviors, such as those related to psychoactive substances. Given the high number of users and early experimentation of these substances, there is a growing interest in identifying the risk factors and underlying mechanisms associated with this behavior. In this regard, this work aims to analyze the relationship between mental health status and the experimentation and frequency of legal drug use (alcohol and tobacco) among students. We included three variables of mental health, insomnia, loneliness and lack of friends. Using data from the 2015 National Adolescent School-based Health Survey (PeNSE), the ordered logit regression model was estimated. Individual characteristics, family context and region were included in the model as covariates. It was observed that students who feel alone and have sleep issues are less likely to have never used psychoactive substances, both alcohol and cigarettes. Furthermore, loneliness and insomnia were associated with higher frequency of substance use. These findings provide evidence of the importance of integrating mental health into public policies and school-based interventions to prevent and reduce the use of substances among adolescents.