Current Trends in Adolescent Substance Use in Jamaica

Atkinson, Uki; Abel, WD; Whitehorne-Smith, Patrice

doi:10.7727/wimjopen.2014.262

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…In 2013, the lifetime prevalence of substance use among high school students was 64% for alcohol, 20.17% for cannabis, 27.5% for cigarettes and 13.3% for inhalants. Similar trends were observed for past-year prevalence and past-month prevalence (3).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…Notably, the adolescent and youth age group is disproportionately affected by substance use, and this is the demographic group usually found in high schools (5)(6)(7). In the Caribbean, studies have shown that substance use among adolescents/high school students is also a serious public mental health problem (3,(8)(9)(10). Cannabis, alcohol, cigarettes and inhalants were the most commonly used substances among high school students in Jamaica (3,8,9).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Caribbean, studies have shown that substance use among adolescents/high school students is also a serious public mental health problem (3,(8)(9)(10). Cannabis, alcohol, cigarettes and inhalants were the most commonly used substances among high school students in Jamaica (3,8,9). In 2013, the lifetime prevalence of substance use among high school students was 64% for alcohol, 20.17% for cannabis, 27.5% for cigarettes and 13.3% for inhalants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Associations between Cannabis Use and Multiple Substance Use among High School Students in Jamaica

Oshi¹,

Abel²,

Ricketts-Roomes³

et al. 2017

West Indian Med J

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Objective: Cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis, inhalants and cocaine are the most commonly used substances among high school students in Jamaica. However, there is limited evidence on their co-use and whether the use of one drug predicts the use of the others (multiple substance use). This study aimed to determine whether cannabis use predicts the co-use of the other substances. Methods: We analysed data from the National Secondary School Survey 2013, Jamaica, using inferential statistics to determine associations. Results: Lifetime cannabis use was significantly associated with lifetime cigarette use for males (X 2 = 282.72, p = 0.000) and females (X 2 = 434.32, p = 0.000). Similarly, it was significantly associated with: (a) lifetime use of alcohol for males (X 2 = 88.62, p = 0.000) and females (X 2 = 99.48, p = 0.000); (b) lifetime use of inhalants for males (X 2 = 13.28, p = 0.00) and females (X 2 = 49.56, p = 0.00); and (c) lifetime cocaine use for males (X 2 = 9.78, p = 0.00) and females (X 2 = 64.54, p = 0.00). Past-month (recent) use of cannabis was significantly associated with past-month use of cigarettes and alcohol, but not inhalants, for males and females. Logistic regression results showed that lifetime cannabis use was a risk factor for lifetime use of cigarettes (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 11.38; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.02, 14.37) and alcohol (AOR: 5.84; 95% CI: 4.11, 8.30), but a strong protective factor against lifetime use of inhalants and cocaine. Past-month use of cannabis was a strong protective factor against pastmonth use of cigarettes and alcohol. Conclusion: Lifetime cannabis use was significantly associated with multiple substance use and was shown to be a risk factor for lifetime use of cigarettes and of alcohol. However, adolescents who reported recent (past-month) use of cannabis were less likely to report recent use of alcohol and cigarettes. These findings suggest the need for research to further explore the role cannabis plays in multiple drug use and offer more concrete explanations for its role.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Associations between Cannabis Use and Multiple Substance Use among High School Students in Jamaica

Oshi¹,

Abel²,

Ricketts-Roomes³

et al. 2017

West Indian Med J

Self Cite

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“…Among older adolescents/ youths in the universities in Trinidad and Tobago, 13% reported having used marijuana in the past six months with 55% stating that they used the drug fewer than three times per month (10). Similarly, in Jamaica, a body of evidence has revealed that marijuana use is relatively high among adolescents and young persons (9,11). Research has shown that the lifetime use of marijuana among adolescents was 20.7% in 2013, a slight decline from 21.5% in 2006 (9,11).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Significant gender differences have also been reported with male adolescents having a higher prevalence than female adolescents (3,4). Studies have shown that adolescents who initiate marijuana use may carry it through to adulthood and furthermore that lifetime use of marijuana is higher than past-year use and than past-month use (5)(6)(7)(8)(9). This suggests that some adolescents have been able to discontinue marijuana use after having initiated the habit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between Family Structure, Parental Monitoring and Marijuana Use among Adolescents in Jamaica: Findings from Nationally Representative Data

Oshi¹,

Abel²,

Ricketts-Roomes³

et al. 2017

West Indian Med J

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Objective: Marijuana misuse by adolescents is a social and public mental health problem in Jamaica and globally. Research has suggested that family structure is one of the factors that influences adolescents' consumption of marijuana. This study was undertaken to determine if family structure and parental monitoring had any association with marijuana use among adolescents in Jamaica. Methods: Data from a nationally representative sample collected in Jamaica's National Secondary School Survey 2013 were analysed. The study sample consisted of 3365 grades 8-12 students from 38 secondary schools. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed using PSPP software. Results: A significantly higher proportion of male (24.4%) than female (16.9%) adolescents reported lifetime use of marijuana. There was no significant difference in the proportions of male and female adolescents regarding marijuana use over the past one year (15.5% versus 10.4%) or over the past 30 days (8.7% versus 5.4%). There were significant differences in lifetime use of marijuana among adolescents from different family structures (Chi-square = 442.63, p = 0.00). The differences were not between one-parent families and two-parent families. Parental monitoring of adolescents' school work was strongly protective against lifetime marijuana use. Adolescents whose parents paid attention very closely (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.34; 95% confidence intervals [95% CI]: 0.22, 0.52), closely (AOR: 0.49; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.99) and somewhat closely (AOR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.41, 0.99) to what they did at school were all significantly less likely to have ever used marijuana. Conclusion: Lifetime marijuana use among adolescents was associated with family structure but not from the perspective of one-parent families versus two-parent families. Parental monitoring of adolescents' school activities significantly protected against lifetime use of marijuana.

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The contribution of cannabis use to the increased psychosis risk among minority ethnic groups in Europe

Selten,

Di Forti,

Quattrone

et al. 2024

Psychol. Med.

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Background We examined whether cannabis use contributes to the increased risk of psychotic disorder for non-western minorities in Europe. Methods We used data from the EU-GEI study (collected at sites in Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands) on 825 first-episode patients and 1026 controls. We estimated the odds ratio (OR) of psychotic disorder for several groups of migrants compared with the local reference population, without and with adjustment for measures of cannabis use. Results The OR of psychotic disorder for non-western minorities, adjusted for age, sex, and recruitment area, was 1.80 (95% CI 1.39–2.33). Further adjustment of this OR for frequency of cannabis use had a minimal effect: OR = 1.81 (95% CI 1.38–2.37). The same applied to adjustment for frequency of use of high-potency cannabis. Likewise, adjustments of ORs for most sub-groups of non-western countries had a minimal effect. There were two exceptions. For the Black Caribbean group in London, after adjustment for frequency of use of high-potency cannabis the OR decreased from 2.45 (95% CI 1.25–4.79) to 1.61 (95% CI 0.74–3.51). Similarly, the OR for Surinamese and Dutch Antillean individuals in Amsterdam decreased after adjustment for daily use: from 2.57 (95% CI 1.07–6.15) to 1.67 (95% CI 0.62–4.53). Conclusions The contribution of cannabis use to the excess risk of psychotic disorder for non-western minorities was small. However, some evidence of an effect was found for people of Black Caribbean heritage in London and for those of Surinamese and Dutch Antillean heritage in Amsterdam.

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Current Trends in Adolescent Substance Use in Jamaica

Abstract: ABSTRACT

Cited by 15 publications

References 3 publications

Associations between Cannabis Use and Multiple Substance Use among High School Students in Jamaica

Associations between Cannabis Use and Multiple Substance Use among High School Students in Jamaica

Associations between Family Structure, Parental Monitoring and Marijuana Use among Adolescents in Jamaica: Findings from Nationally Representative Data

The contribution of cannabis use to the increased psychosis risk among minority ethnic groups in Europe

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