Protective and family risk factors related to adolescent drug use

Abstract

This cross-sectional and quantitative study aimed to verify the family's protective and risk factors related to drugs use in adolescents, considering the interaction patterns developed in the family, their degree of adaptability and vulnerability. Participants in this study were 80 female adolescents, from the 1st to 4th grade of high school, who answered a questionnaire. The most relevant risk and protective factors that would influence the situation were established, such as patterns of interaction, degree of adaptability, way of coping with problems, family resources and values. The major risk factors that emerged were the way people confront problems and, within these, lack of religious support and professional support, besides communication difficulties within families. The lowest risks were values, such as personal effort. The results highlight that nurses should assume psychosocial interventions as part of their role, especially among school-age children as, thus, they would be acting as agents in the prevention of drugs use.