Alarming! Substance use among students starts at 12, finds survey

A survey of school students from 10 cities in India found that they begin using substances between ages 12 and 13, suggesting that interventions are needed before they reach middle school, according to a study.

For each delayed year of initiation of substance use, the likelihood of substance use disorder decreases, researchers, including those from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, said.

Over 5,900 students of classes eight, nine, 11 and 12 from urban-government, urban-private and rural schools in cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, responded to questionnaires. Questions were related to pattern of substance use, frequency and age when a participant was initiated to use of tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, inhalants, sedatives and opioids.

"The age of initiation of substance use (any) was 12.9 years (range 11-14 years), similar to the other Indian studies and lower than other reports," authors wrote in the study published in the National Medical Journal of India.

"This suggests prevention and intervention are needed at ages 12 and earlier, as for each delayed year of initiation of substance use, the likelihood of substance use disorder decreases," they added.

The team also found an increased substance use with increasing grades, "with class 11/12 students two times more likely to report ever use of substances when compared with grade eight students".

Continued prevention and intervention through middle and high school is thus important, they said.

Fifteen per cent of the participants reported substance use at least once, while 10 per cent reported substance use in the past one year, the study said.

The authors added, "family conflicts were typically high, reported by about one-fourth of the sample."

Negative family environments marked by high levels of conflict have been previously studied to be associated with development of substance use by adolescents, they said.

The researchers proposed a prevention and intervention programme — "provide drug education, drug refusal skills, and normative education through interactive sessions".

Children at risk of substance use need to be identified, screened and provided with psychological support, the team said, adding that measures should include teaching students how to cope with negative family and other life situations.

"As study results suggest, consumption is mostly occasional, the students can be managed in the school settings with the involvement of school counsellors and the use of brief interventions," the authors said.