Use of Legal Drugs in School Children Aged 8 To 12 Years

Authors

Keywords:

alcohol consumption in minors, Primary prevention, self-efficacy, attitude, quality of life, consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Abstract

Introduction: The prevention of drug use in the school setting is a priority in the national drug demand reduction policy as an essential element to guide decision-making.

Objective: To determine the perceived health, self-efficacy and attitude towards drug use in children aged 8 to 12 years who attend schools in a town in Bogotá.

Method: A descriptive quantitative research was carried out on 467 boys and girls aged 8 to 12 from six schools in a town in Bogotá. A sociodemographic questionnaire, Albert Bandura's Perceived Self-Efficacy Instrument, the Kidscreen Instrument 27 and the questionnaire on attitude towards drug use were applied.

Results: Contact with cigarettes and alcohol is evident from the age of 8 with significant differences according to age and sex. Boys seem to come first into contact with alcohol, while girls do so with cigarettes. Those who have had contact with alcohol and tobacco reported lower levels of self-efficacy and perceived health.

Conclusion: Contact with alcohol and tobacco occurs at early ages, with a significant proportion of alcohol consumption, sometime in life, between 8 and 12 years old, which makes it necessary to expand the research on consumption in this age group from a gender perspective. Drug use prevention programs must be articulated in a transversal way with the health, education and family sectors, so that parents and teachers are involved in them.

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Author Biographies

Dora Stella Melo Hurtado, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Profesor Asistente, Departamento de Enfermeria en Salud Colectiva, Facultad de Enfermería, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Herly Ruth Alvarado Romero, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Profesor Asistente, Departamento de Enfermeria Clinica, Facultad de Enfermería, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Diana Norella Cordoba Rojas, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Profesor Instructor, Departamento de Enfermeria en Salud Colectiva, Facultad de Enfermería, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Published

2020-12-30

How to Cite

1.
Melo Hurtado DS, Alvarado Romero HR, Cordoba Rojas DN. Use of Legal Drugs in School Children Aged 8 To 12 Years. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [Internet]. 2020 Dec. 30 [cited 2025 Jan. 14];47(1). Available from: https://revsaludpublica.sld.cu/index.php/spu/article/view/1832