Personal and psychossocial determinants of tobacco and alcohol use in adolescence

Substance use in adolescence continues to be one of major concerns in public health. Its implications in personal and social termsmotivate the search for determinants of consumption in order to develop effectivepreventive responses. Method: this study aims to explore personal determinantsof tobacco and alcohol among a sample of 323 adolescents, 199 of them weregirls (61.6%), aged between 15 and 19 years (M = 16.79, SD = 1.096) whoattended Portuguese public high schools. For data collection, it was used a sociodemographic and consumption questionnaire, the Proactive Attitude Scale, theProactive Coping Scale, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Berlin SocialSupport Scales and the Scales of Attitudes Toward Tobacco and Alcohol toevaluate psychosocial determinants. Results: The results allow us to verify thedeterminant role of attitudes on the experience of tobacco use, being higheramong those who have tried and with a positive correlation with the intensity ofconsumption. Nevertheless, the onset age of cigarette smoking correlates onlywith the perception of emotional support. Also on alcohol consumption, therewas a more favorable attitude among those who have tried and a negativecorrelation with the age of first experience. In addition, differences in attitudeswere verified depending on the pattern of consumption, with more favorableattitudes according with binge drinking frequency and drunkenness episodes. Isalso noticed a lower perception of demand and need for social support betweenadolescents that relate more drunkenness episodes. Conclusions: The studysuggests the central role of attitudes towards consumption, although dependingon the specific substances, findings that should be explored in future studies.These data are discussed according the existing literature and implications toprevention and further studies are presented.