PMID- 30016528
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20181123
LR  - 20220321
IS  - 1460-2393 (Electronic)
IS  - 1460-2393 (Linking)
VI  - 111
IP  - 10
DP  - 2018 Oct 1
TI  - Epidemiology of adolescent substance use in Norfolk schools.
PG  - 699-706
LID - 10.1093/qjmed/hcy153 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: The pattern of alcohol and substance use is changing, with the 
      introduction of novel psychoactive substances, the internet as a means of 
      acquisition and variations in drug purity and price. Alcohol and substance use 
      among adolescents is associated with behavioural, mental health, health and 
      social difficulties; arising at a vulnerable period in their development. Little 
      is known about adolescent substance use in the UK, especially in rural areas. 
      AIM: To investigate the prevalence of substance use amongst young people, aged 
      16-21 years, in Norfolk schools. DESIGN: Cross sectional questionnaire survey. 
      METHOD: Pupils from two, sixth form colleges in Norfolk answered a self-report 
      questionnaire designed to measure prevalence, age of onset and frequency of use 
      for alcohol, tobacco, illicit substances including new psychoactive substances as 
      well as demographic data. RESULTS: A total of 482 students completed the survey 
      (68% participation rate). Life-time use of alcohol was reported by 442 (91.7%) 
      students and over half the pupils had tried tobacco (52.5%, n=253). About 40.7% 
      reported cannabis use and nearly one-fifth (18.9%, n=91) reported using 
      3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA); 41.1% (n=198) students reported using 
      'any drug' and 23.2% (n=112) 'using an illicit drug other than cannabis' and 8.7% 
      (n=42) reported the use of a novel psychoactive substance. CONCLUSION: The most 
      widely used substances were alcohol, tobaccos and cannabis; in keeping with 
      European trends. Over the past decade a decline in alcohol and drug use by 
      adolescents has been seen in the UK. However, since 2010 this decline has slowed 
      with an increase in substance use noted in the past 2 years. This study provides 
      evidence to support this trend. The findings demonstrate differences between the 
      use of substances by pupils in this Norfolk sample compared to national surveys 
      and more urbanized areas. These regional differences can be used to assist the 
      development of local interventions targeting substance use among adolescents.
FAU - Roderick, E
AU  - Roderick E
AD  - Department of Mental Health Nursing, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, 
      Midwifery & Palliative Care, King's College London, London, UK.
FAU - Penney, J
AU  - Penney J
AD  - Department of Mental Health Nursing, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, 
      Midwifery & Palliative Care, King's College London, London, UK.
FAU - Murrells, T
AU  - Murrells T
AD  - Adult Nursing, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative 
      Care, King's College London, London, UK.
FAU - Dargan, P I
AU  - Dargan PI
AD  - Clinical Toxicology, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's Health 
      Partners, London, UK.
AD  - Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, UK.
FAU - Norman, I J
AU  - Norman IJ
AD  - Department of Mental Health Nursing, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, 
      Midwifery & Palliative Care, King's College London, London, UK.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - England
TA  - QJM
JT  - QJM : monthly journal of the Association of Physicians
JID - 9438285
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Age Distribution
MH  - Cross-Sectional Studies
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Logistic Models
MH  - Male
MH  - Multivariate Analysis
MH  - Schools
MH  - Self Report
MH  - Sex Distribution
MH  - Students/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Substance-Related Disorders/*classification/*epidemiology
MH  - United Kingdom/epidemiology
MH  - Young Adult
EDAT- 2018/07/18 06:00
MHDA- 2018/11/24 06:00
CRDT- 2018/07/18 06:00
PHST- 2018/03/30 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2018/07/18 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2018/11/24 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2018/07/18 06:00 [entrez]
AID - 5054491 [pii]
AID - 10.1093/qjmed/hcy153 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - QJM. 2018 Oct 1;111(10):699-706. doi: 10.1093/qjmed/hcy153.