Association between stressful life events and psychoactive substance use in adolescents and young adults from Argentina, Colombia and Peru.
8 affiliations
- 1CRONICAS Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru. [email protected].
- 2CRONICAS Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.
- 3Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia.
- 4Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia.
- 5Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Bogotá, Colombia.
- 6Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Medicine, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- 7Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
- 8Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Abstract
Background
Substance use is a common problem among young people in Latin America and has significant consequences for their mental health. One of the variables associated with the use of psychoactive substances is stressful life events (SLEs). SLEs can include traumatic experiences, significant losses, interpersonal conflicts, financial difficulties, among others.Objective
To explore the association between the number of SLEs and psychoactive substance use in adolescents and young adults from deprived urban settings.Methods
In this cross-sectional study, adolescents and young adults were recruited from disadvantaged urban environments in Buenos Aires, Bogota and Lima. Data were collected between April 2021 and November 2022. The number of SLEs experienced in lifetime until a year ago was assessed using an adaptation of the Adolescent Appropriate Life Events Scale, which asks about 30 SLEs. Psychoactive substance use in the last three months was self-rated and six outcomes were analyzed: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, tranquilizers, other drugs, and use of three or more substances. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) were estimated using generalized linear models of the Poisson family with log link and robust variances for each outcome.Results
2378 participants' data were analyzed. Participants experiencing between 10 and 22 SLEs more than a year ago had higher prevalence rates of psychoactive substance use than participants between 0 and 5 SLEs in four of six outcomes: tobacco (PR: 1.69, 95% CI 1.37-2.08), alcohol (PR: 1.23, 95% CI 1.13-1.35), marijuana (PR: 1.75, 95% CI 1.35-2.26), and three or more psychoactive substances (PR: 1.85, 95% CI 1.35-2.53) in the last three months.Conclusion
Experiencing a higher number of SLEs was associated with the use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and three or more psychoactive substances in adolescents and young adults from disadvantaged urban areas of Bogota, Buenos Aires, and Lima. Recognizing young people who have gone through multiple stressful life events at an early stage is essential, so that interventions can be implemented to prevent them from turning to psychoactive substances.Clinical trial number
Not applicable.
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BibTeX
@article{paredesangeles2026association,
title = {{Association between stressful life events and psychoactive substance use in adolescents and young adults from Argentina, Colombia and Peru.}},
author = {Rubí Paredes-Angeles and Maria Lazo-Porras and Adriana Carbonel and Carlos Gómez-Restrepo and Luis Ignacio Brusco and Diliniya Stanislaus Sureshkumar and José Miguel Uribe-Restrepo and Natividad Olivar and Catherine Fung and Fernando Esnal and Natalia Godoy-Casasbuenas and Stefan Priebe and Francisco Diez-Canseco},
journal = {BMC psychiatry},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1186/s12888-026-08357-7},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42928162},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Association between stressful life events and psychoactive substance use in adolescents and young adults from Argentina, Colombia and Peru.
AU - Rubí Paredes-Angeles
AU - Maria Lazo-Porras
AU - Adriana Carbonel
AU - Carlos Gómez-Restrepo
AU - Luis Ignacio Brusco
AU - Diliniya Stanislaus Sureshkumar
AU - José Miguel Uribe-Restrepo
AU - Natividad Olivar
AU - Catherine Fung
AU - Fernando Esnal
AU - Natalia Godoy-Casasbuenas
AU - Stefan Priebe
AU - Francisco Diez-Canseco
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
JO - BMC psychiatry
DO - 10.1186/s12888-026-08357-7
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42928162
AB - Background Substance use is a common problem among young people in Latin America and has significant consequences for their mental health. One of the variables associated with the use of psychoactive substances is stressful life events (SLEs). SLEs can include traumatic experiences, significant losses, interpersonal conflicts, financial difficulties, among others.Objective To explore the association between the number of SLEs and psychoactive substance use in adolescents and young adults from deprived urban settings.Methods In this cross-sectional study, adolescents and young adults were recruited from disadvantaged urban environments in Buenos Aires, Bogota and Lima. Data were collected between April 2021 and November 2022. The number of SLEs experienced in lifetime until a year ago was assessed using an adaptation of the Adolescent Appropriate Life Events Scale, which asks about 30 SLEs. Psychoactive substance use in the last three months was self-rated and six outcomes were analyzed: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, tranquilizers, other drugs, and use of three or more substances. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) were estimated using generalized linear models of the Poisson family with log link and robust variances for each outcome.Results 2378 participants' data were analyzed. Participants experiencing between 10 and 22 SLEs more than a year ago had higher prevalence rates of psychoactive substance use than participants between 0 and 5 SLEs in four of six outcomes: tobacco (PR: 1.69, 95% CI 1.37-2.08), alcohol (PR: 1.23, 95% CI 1.13-1.35), marijuana (PR: 1.75, 95% CI 1.35-2.26), and three or more psychoactive substances (PR: 1.85, 95% CI 1.35-2.53) in the last three months.Conclusion Experiencing a higher number of SLEs was associated with the use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and three or more psychoactive substances in adolescents and young adults from disadvantaged urban areas of Bogota, Buenos Aires, and Lima. Recognizing young people who have gone through multiple stressful life events at an early stage is essential, so that interventions can be implemented to prevent them from turning to psychoactive substances.Clinical trial number Not applicable.
SN - 1471-244X
ER -