The Mediating Role of Contextual Problems and Sensation Seeking in the Association between Substance Use and Mental Health in Adolescents from Northern Chile

Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar, Diego Atencio-Quevedo, Alfonso Urzúa, Jerome Flores and Matías Irarrázaval
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Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar: Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica 1000000, Chile
Diego Atencio-Quevedo: Escuela de Psicología y Filosofía, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica 1000000, Chile
Alfonso Urzúa: Escuela de Psicología, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta 1270709, Chile
Jerome Flores: Escuela de Psicología y Filosofía, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica 1000000, Chile
Matías Irarrázaval: Departamento de Psiquiatría, Facultad de Medicina, Hospital Clínico, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8380453, Chile

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: Substance use is a risk behavior that has been associated with adverse mental health outcomes in adolescence. The aim of this study was to determine the relation between behavioral problems, emotional problems, and substance use as well as the mediating role of contextual problems and sensation seeking in this relation. A cross-sectional study of 2277 adolescents from Northern Chile was conducted. The System for the Evaluation of Children and Adolescents (SENA) was used to assess substance use, contextual problems, sensation seeking, and emotional and behavioral problems. Through a mediational model, it was observed that substance use has a positive indirect effect on emotional and behavioral problems when both contextual problems and sensation seeking act as mediating variables. An indirect effect of substance use on contextual problems with sensation seeking as a mediator was also observed. The results suggests that context and sensation seeking are a relevant source of information in understanding adolescents and their propensity to use drugs. Interventions based on addressing contextual problems (problems with school, peers, and family) and enhancing personal resources should be implemented in order to reduce substance use in adolescents as well as the consequences it can generate in the short, medium, and long term.

Keywords: substance use; mental health; contextual problems; sensation seeking; youth; adolescents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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