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Risk factors of illicit substance use among Tunisian adolescents of Sousse


 
 
 Adolescence is a period of physical, psychological and socio-cultural transformation, but also of curiosity, experimentation and acquisition. It is mainly during adolescence that people are introduced to the use of legitimate psychoactive substances, such as alcohol and tobacco, as well as illicit substances such as cannabis. Studying its predictors could help deal with this problem more efficiently. We aimed to determine the prevalence of life time illicit substance use and its predictors among Tunisian adolescents.
 
 
 
 We conducted a cross-sectional study in two public schools in the governorate of Sousse during the 2017/2018 school year. The data were collected by anonymous self-administered questionnaire, then processed and analyzed using the SPSS software version 20.
 
 
 
 A total of 294 students were included. The mean age was of 17.03 years (standard deviation = 1.51). Females represented 56.1% of participants (sex ratio was 0.78). Among respondents: 60 (20.4%) had used illicit substance at least once. Cannabis was the main substance used by 35 (58.3%) students. The average age of the illicit substance use initiation was 16.3 (±1.1) years while it was 15.7 (±1.5) and 14.7 (±1.8) years for alcohol and tobacco use initiation respectively. Proportions of male students and academic failure were significantly more important among illicit substance users than among non users. While the most influential factors on illicit substance use were: alcohol use, and tobacco use (p < 10-3). However, no significant association was found between illicit substance use and video games and internet use.
 
 
 
 This study highlights the strong association between the other risk behaviors and illicit drug use. Future interventions should focus on the whole risk behaviors simultaneously at late adolescence with regard to the environmental context.
 
 
 
 Our results highlight the need to better understand behaviors at risk in Tunisia and the perceptions of prevention policies among students. Mainly during adolescence that people are introduced to the use of illicit substances.
