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Abstract
Introduction: The consumption of psychoactive substances in Portugal has been decreasing in the last decade. However, the latest report from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) indicates that 5.1% of the Portuguese population has frequent cannabis use. The effect of psychosocial development in childhood and adolescence, or their life history, is considered to be a particularly important element in the genetic variation of the endocannabinoid system [Citation1]. There are several techniques and instruments that can be used in the evaluation of drug addiction, namely: interview, self-registration, psychometric instruments and biological tests [Citation2]. Although this study has a genetic and psychosocial approach, we will only present the psychological component of the research.
Materials and methods: Objective data, such as consumption changes, age, initiation substance, routes of administration used, substances consumed, relapse circumstances, previous attempts to quit, and drug-related health problems allow access to the standard of consumption, as well as data on the subject’s feelings, circumstances and thoughts before and after consumption. To assess drug use we opted for the development of a small questionnaire focused on the above mentioned issues and aimed. Due to the association with psychopathology we use the Brief Symptoms Inventory (BSI). All ethical principles have been taken due to the sensitive nature of the data involved.
Results: The large majority of studies on cannabinoid consumption suggest that hereditary influences that may be at the basis of predisposition towards substance use are attenuated in the presence of adequate parental monitoring/supervision [Citation1,Citation3]. Although this is still an investigation in curses, with no final results, there is a tendency for those evaluated to show a history of initiation of adolescents’ consumption with cannabis, followed by harder drugs. There is also a lack of parental control and supervision, apparently capable of correcting patterns of early deviant behavior. The psychopathology not yet have significant results due to sample size.
Discussion and conclusions: As a working paper which derives from the application of a research pre-test, the results obtained only seek to understand the adequacy of the methodology to be used in the pilot study that will be started soon. This research is a pioneer, since it analyzes in parallel, possible genetic and psychosocial impacts on the consumption of psychoactive substances, contrary to what appears in most of the literature of reference.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge VITAE – Associação de Solidariedade e Desenvolvimento Internacional for his useful contribution to this work and Egas Moniz – Cooperativa de Ensino Superior, CRL by the funding support