Alcohol and illicit drugs: prevalence of alcohol and illicit drug use and their predictors in young people from Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile and Romania

Background

Alcohol and illicit drugs (AID) continue to be a major global health concern. Although preventable, AID is linked to millions of deaths annually worldwide. The situation is particularly grave for young people, with AID being a major direct risk factor for disability-adjusted youth life-years lost and death. It further contributes to assaults, road crashes, accidental poisoning, and suicide, leading to long-term issues and public health concerns.

Objective

This study aimed at disclosing current AID prevalence data for Argentinian, Bulgarian, Chilean and Romanian youth. It shed light on the predictors of AID in young people from those countries.

Method

The study used an online survey to gather data from people aged 18 to 25 (n = 1,297). The survey was underpinned by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Predictors were investigated separately for drinking alcohol and using illicit drugs.

Results

Our data revealed that across the four target countries, 49% to 90% of the participants drank alcohol, and 8% to 35% used illicit drugs in the past three months. Between 20% and 91% of them intended to drink, and between 8% and 31% intended to use illicit drugs in the following three months. Our TPB model predicted statistically significant (P < 0.001) amounts of variance in drinking alcohol (between 61% and 72%) and using illicit drugs (between 20.3% and 74.4%). Intention was consistent in significantly predicting both behaviours. Evidence around the predictive validity of self-efficacy, age and gender was mixed across the investigated countries.

Conclusion

This research provided an update on the scarce AID epidemiological data. It also supplied evidence about what theoretically-informed measures might be useful targets of interventions in the case of Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile and Romania. This new knowledge of understanding substance abuse determinants and prevalence may help researchers and practitioners better meet young people's health prevention needs.