ABSTRACT
Introduction: Very little research has been done in Mexico to estimate drug-related treatment needs or service utilization. There80 is also scarce epidemiological research on the influence of parents on drug-related service utilization by adolescents in Mexico. In this paper, we use advanced epidemiologic strategies to provide population-based estimates of the association between parental involvement and treatment needs and service utilization, by level of drug use, with and without adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: We used data from the latest survey on drug use, representative of all middle and high school students in the Federal District of Mexico (Mexico City). A standardized, self-administered questionnaire was given to 10, 173 students aged 12-22 (mean = 14.6, SE = 0.08), especially designed to assess use of several drugs and risk/protective factors, including a sub-scale on parental involvement. All analyses used procedures that account for the complex sample design. Results: Students with lower parental involvement (lowest quartile) were found to be more likely to have used drugs in their lifetime, in the past year, as well as in the past month. Moreover, students with the lowest quartile of parental involvement were more likely to have used two or more drugs in their lifetime, and this association was estimated to be independent of sex, age, school enrollment in the past year as well as history of working part or full time in the prior year. About 20% of the students who ever used two or more drugs received some drug-related help, however 50-55% reported they would like to use drugs less. Service utilization was associated with higher numbers of drugs ever used, but not with higher levels of parental involvement. Discussion: Parental involvement seems to play a major role as a protective factor against drug use initiation among students, but does not differentiate drug users who seek help from those who do not. Further research is needed to answer whether this is due to students with higher levels of parental involvement having less problematic patterns of drug use. The discrepancy between wanting to use drugs less and service utilization points to the need for further research into the factors that may influence service utilization and, ultimately, recovery. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: <getinfo@haworthpressinc.com> Website: <https://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]
