PurposeThe purpose of the study is to examine (1) whether family and peer marijuana use are independently related to adolescent marijuana use in Chile, (2) whether family and peer marijuana use are associated with adolescent marijuana dependence in adolescents using marijuana, and (3) whether the adolescent’s age moderates the association between family or peer use and adolescent marijuana use and/or dependence.MethodThis study used data from the National Survey on Drug Use in the General Population in Chile (a cross-sectional observational study), which was conducted in 2008 and 2010 in 4413 adolescents aged 12–19. Adolescents answered questions about their past-year marijuana use and dependence (ICD-10 criteria) and the marijuana use of their family and peers. Logistic regressions were performed while controlling for confounders.ResultsAdolescents who had a family member who used marijuana were five times more likely to use the drug. Adolescents with a close friend who used marijuana were eight times more likely to use marijuana. When adolescents were using marijuana, they were three times more likely to be dependent if they had a family member who used the drug. However, no significant relationship was found between peer use and dependence. No statistically significant interactions were found between family or peer use and age.ConclusionFamily and peer marijuana use was independently associated with adolescent’s past-year marijuana use; however, only family marijuana use was statistically associated with adolescent’s marijuana dependence.

Background We compare self-reported prevalence of drug use and indicators of data quality from two different response modes (with and without an independent answer sheet for recording responses) in a survey conducted in 2015 among secondary school students. Methods Stratified cluster-randomized study conducted among students in grades 8 to 12 from public, private and subsidized schools in Chile (N = 2,317 students in 122 classes). Measurements included were: percentage reporting substance use (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy); number of inconsistent responses; number of item nonresponses; percentage of extreme reports of drug use; percentage reporting using the nonexistent drug, relevón; and completion times. Results Compared with those who responded directly in the questionnaire booklet, students who used a separate answer sheet took 17.6 more minutes (95% confidence interval [CI]: 14.4–20.8) to complete the survey and had on average 1.5 more inconsistent responses (95%CI: 0.91–2.14). The prevalence and variance of drug use was higher among those who used an answer sheet for all substances except tobacco; the prevalence ratio (PR) of reported substance use for low-prevalence substances during the past year were: cocaine PR=2.5 (95%CI: 1.6–4.1); ecstasy PR=5.0 (95%CI: 2.4–10.5); relevón PR=4.8 (95%CI: 2.5–9.3). Conclusions Using an answer sheet for a self-administered paper-and-pencil survey of drug use among students result in lower quality data and higher reports of drug use. International comparison of adolescent drug use from school-based surveys should be done with caution. The relative ranking of a country could be misleading if different mode of recording answers are used.

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Background: Research has increased our understanding of the parental factors associated with the initiation and development of cannabis use disorder in adolescents, but few studies about this have been performed in middle-or low-income countries. Objective: First, to examine whether perceived past parental drug use, parental monitoring, and attitude toward adolescent cannabis use are associated with general and problematic cannabis use in Chilean adolescents. Second, to explore whether perceived past parental drug use weakens the associations of protective factors with general and problematic adolescent cannabis use. Methods: Regression analyses were performed on cross-sectional data from a multistage probabilistic sample stratified by clusters (municipalities, school and grade) of 43,060 students (47% male, mean age 15.5 years) from grades 8 to 12, which was collected from the Chilean National School Survey on Drug Use (2013). Results: Perceived past parental drug use increased the likelihood of adolescent cannabis use in general, but not its problematic use. Parental monitoring of adolescents' whereabouts and parental opposition to adolescent cannabis use decreased the likelihood of adolescent cannabis use in general, as well as problematic use. Perceived past parental drug use only interacted with parental monitoring of school activities. Conclusions: In line with research from the United States, the Netherlands and Spain, parental monitoring of adolescents' whereabouts and a strong parental opposition to cannabis use appear to be protective factors, irrespective of past parental use. However, the effectiveness of monitoring adolescents' school activities seems to decrease when parents are perceived as having used drugs in the past.

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