Friendship and Consumption Networks in Adolescents and Their Relationship to Stress and Cannabis Use Intention

María Cristina Martínez-Fernández, Cristina Liébana-Presa, Elena Fernández-Martínez, Lisa Gomes and Isaías García-Rodríguez
Additional contact information
María Cristina Martínez-Fernández: SALBIS Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, Campus de Ponferrada, Universidad de León, 24401 Ponferrada, Spain
Cristina Liébana-Presa: SALBIS Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, Campus de Ponferrada, Universidad de León, 24401 Ponferrada, Spain
Elena Fernández-Martínez: SALBIS Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad de León, 24071 León, Spain
Lisa Gomes: Nursing School, Minho University, 4704-553 Braga, Portugal
Isaías García-Rodríguez: SECOMUCI Research Groups, Department of Electric, Systems and Automatics Engineering, Universidad de León, 24071 León, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-11

Abstract: Background: Cannabis is an illegal psychoactive substance that’s use is widespread among adolescents. During adolescence, many changes can cause stress. In this phase, the group of friends becomes increasingly important, being a situation of vulnerability for the beginning of cannabis use, either as an escape mechanism or due to peer’s influence. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the structure of the consumption and friendship network, the intention to use cannabis, and the stress in a secondary school class. Methods: An online platform with validated self-reported questionnaires were used for data collection. Results: The sample consisted of adolescents ( n = 20) aged 14–16 from a third-year class of compulsory secondary education in Ponferrada (León, Spain). Significant differences were obtained concerning consumption intention and the different network metrics in both the friendship and consumption networks. Subsequently, the representation of these networks was carried out. Conclusions: Social Network Analysis is a very useful tool that provides a picture of the context in which adolescents are located. In the consumption network, there are central actors who have not yet consumed cannabis; this is a crucial moment to implement prevention strategies.

Keywords: cannabis; adolescents; stress; social network analysis; network; friendship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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