Teen substance abusers are more likely to have psychiatric problems, according to a study from Africa. The study included substances not usually abused in the United States, such as kola nuts.

• Dr. Wilson Ojinnaka and his colleagues studied 900 students from the city of Enugu, Nigeria, and found that 290 were using some kind of substance.
• The most common was alcohol, abused by 32%, followed by kola nuts, used by 21%.
• Almost one-fourth of the students in this group scored high on tests of psycho-social dysfunction, compared to 10% of students who did not abuse substances.
• Fifty-four of the substance abusers had clinical depression.

Gender and social class were not factors in whether a student abused substances.

This study appears in the Italian Journal of Pediatrics.

Labels: suicide, mental health

Posted By: Adolescent Substance Abuse