Potential risk and protective factors of substance use among school adolescents in Morocco: A cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Background: Substance use among adolescents is responsible, in long term, for several chronic diseases, including cancer. In this study, we sought to assess the prevalence and correlates of substance use among students’ adolescents in Taza city, focusing on risk and protective factors to develop a health promotion intervention.

Methods: A school-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in Taza during 2016. The sample consisted of 800 students from 14 to 19 years old from randomly stratified cluster sampling. Data were collected using a Global School Health Survey questionnaire.

Results: Of 800 total students, 764 responded to the survey (response rate of 95.5%), with slightly more than half (53.3%) being girls. The survey showed current tobacco use of 16.2%, lifetime alcoholic drink of 6.8%, and lifetime drug use of 9.2%. Results from multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that substance use was significantly associated with older age, being male, poor hand hygiene, suicidal ideations, peer substance use, and absenteeism. Parental bonding represented a protective factor for illicit drug use.

Conclusions: We found a high prevalence of substance use among adolescents in Taza city, similar to rates reported at the national level. These findings suggest an urgent need to develop national health promotion programs for adolescents.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• tobacco use
• substance use
• risk factors
• protective factors
• Morocco

Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to all students who participated in the study. We also thank the provincial director of Education Ministry and teachers/headmasters/principals of the participating schools for their invaluable collaboration. Special thanks are due to Rasa G. Hamilton for her generous assistance with this publication. Our thanks also go to Azzam H. and her team for the workshops organized in Morocco on capacity building where this project has matured. We would also like to thank El Rhazi K. for the coordination of these workshops.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Supplemenatry material

Supplementary data can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/14659891.2018.1535003.

Additional information

Funding

This study is funded by the Fogarty International Center and National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health and the award number 5D43TW009804 (PI Anna Giuliano).