Mahsoon Alaa Nabil, Almashat Lina, Alsubaui Norah, Hindi Shahad, Alharbi Shahad, Yaghmour Sara, Sharif Loujain
Department of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, SAU.
Faculty of Nursing, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, SAU.
Cureus. 2023 Aug 1;15(8):e42795. doi: 10.7759/cureus.42795. eCollection 2023 Aug.
Empirical evidence on substance use in Saudi Arabia is lacking. This quantitative study is aimed at describing the socio-demographics of initial exposure to substance use and its relation to substance abuse progression.
A questionnaire about socio-demographics during initial exposure to substance use was completed by 379 participants.
For most participants, the commencement of substance abuse occurred at the age range of 19‒23 years, and while in high school, they first started taking drugs with school friends. The two psychoactive substances most commonly taken for the first time were hashish and alcohol. The two main reasons for first drug exposure were teenage curiosity and joy-seeking. The chi-square test revealed statistically significant differences between substance abuse progression by sex, current age, father's education level, parent's marital status, and one's company in substance use. Female participants were more likely to continue taking drugs.
Young people must be educated about the risks and consequences of substance use from early adolescence.
沙特阿拉伯缺乏关于药物使用的实证证据。这项定量研究旨在描述初次接触药物使用的社会人口统计学特征及其与药物滥用进展的关系。
379名参与者完成了一份关于初次接触药物使用时社会人口统计学特征的问卷。
对于大多数参与者来说，药物滥用始于19至23岁，且是在高中时，他们最初与学校朋友一起开始吸毒。最常首次服用的两种精神活性物质是大麻和酒精。首次接触毒品的两个主要原因是青少年的好奇心和寻求快乐。卡方检验显示，在按性别、当前年龄、父亲教育水平、父母婚姻状况以及吸毒时的同伴划分的药物滥用进展方面存在统计学上的显著差异。女性参与者更有可能继续吸毒。
必须从青春期早期就对年轻人进行关于药物使用风险和后果的教育。
