INTRODUCTION OBJECTIVE METHOD RESULTS CONCLUSIONS

Distribution of
Free Time
and drug use in
Adolescents
Marycarmen Bustos,
Jorge Villatoro,
Natania Oliva,
Midiam Moreno,
María de Lourdes Gutierrez.
[email protected]
INTRODUCTION
Drug consumption in Mexico is a problem that affects 5.7% of the population. According to the National Addictions Survey
from 2008, drug use occurs at early ages and adolescents are the most exposed to its use. Moreover, 35.8% of the adolescents
who use drugs regularly progress towards dependence (SS,CONADIC, INPRFM, INSP 2008). In Mexico City, this survey reports
that 50.8% of drug users began its use before age 18, and in the age group of 12 to 17 years, 1.8 men for every woman
have used drugs during the last month prevalence.
Considering the date above there´s a need to explain or have hypothesis for this phenomenon that’s arising
between adolescents. Some of these hypotheses are focused towards the use of lease time and free
time In general; young people have fewer responsibilities than adults, giving way to leisure as a key
part in their lives, strengthening their identity (Rodriguez, 2003). According to the National Survey
on Time Use 2002 young people aged 12 to 19 years old spend more time on leisure activities,
compared with older ones. (INEGI 2005)
METHOD
Data used in this study came from the School Population Survey of Drug Use from Mexico City in the 2006. This survey had a
sample of 10.523 adolescents from 7th to 12th grade from public and private schools. The design was random, stratified and
two-staged cluster sampling. A non response rate of 15% was considered, a design effect of 2, a confidence level of 95% and an
absolute error average of 0.004.
The information was obtained through standardized self-administered questionnaires, used in previous surveys and previously
validated (Villatoro et al. 2007). For this study, we use the leisure time scale in the A form of the questionnaire, which consists of 15 items.
A factor analysis of the items used was performed, and the items were grouped into three categories: fun activities, which corresponds to social activities with
peers such as going to parties, go out drinking with friends, talking on the phone and going to the movies; second category was Videogames and finally the
third group was prosocial activities which includes activities such as doing homework, help with household chores and going out with the family.
RESULTS
Of the students who participated in the survey, 19.1% of men and 16.5% of women reported having used drugs at some time in
their lives.
For details about the activities in which young consumers are spending more time, means of the activity scales were
obtained and compared with a multivariate analysis of variance which considered the educational level, sex, and
consumption as predictors and had the three activity groups as dependent variables.
Table 1. Leasure time use in adolescents by drug use, sex and educational level.
In this context, current socio-cultural characteristics have facilitated a culture of leisure and
accompanying this, young people have made a transformation of what they consider amusing
or fun activities. Recreational life and activities are associated with consumption of both legal
and illegal drugs as a key element for fun, linked to low perceived risk of consumption. (Becoña, 2000.)
Women
Men
Lifetime
consumption
of
any
drug
Non‐consumer
Consumer
7th
to
9th
Grade
Fun
Prosocial
activities
Videogames
10th
to
12th
Grade
Fun
Prosocial
activities
Videogames
Several investigations report that those adolescents going out to have fun on weekends have more frequent drug use,
indicating that the way they spend their free time can trigger the presence of risky behaviors (Infante, 2003; Osorio, 2004;
Lomba, 2009).
OBJECTIVE
Learn more about the distribution of leisure time in adolescent drug users and non users from Mexico City.
Lifetime
consumption
of
any
drug
Non‐consumer
Consumer
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
1.8
2.2
2.0
1.8
2.1
1.8
.5
.5
.6
.5
.4
.5
2.0
2.1
2.0
2.0
2.0
1.8
.6
.5
.6
.4
.4
.6
1.8
2.2
1.5
1.9
2.2
1.3
.4
.5
.5
.4
.4
.4
2.0
2.0
1.7
2.1
2.0
1.3
.5
.6
.7
.4
.4
.5
Table 2. Multivariate analysis of sex, education level and drug use by preferred
activities during leisure.
Comparison
Group
Dependent
variable
F
Sex
Fun
.190
Prosocial
activities
2.233
Videogames
208.012
Lifetime
Drug
Use
Fun
49.375
Prosocial
activities
38.708
Videogames
1.458
Educational
Level
Fun
6.813
Prosocial
activities
4.839
Videogames
76.645
Sex
and
Lifetime
Drug
Use
Interaction
Fun
.004
Prosocial
activities
4.065
Videogames
3.337
Sex
and
Educational
Level
Interaction
Fun
2.714
Prosocial
activities
.907
Videogames
.299
Lifetime
Drug
Use
and
Educational
level
Fun
.343
Interaction
Prosocial
activities
.137
Videogames
2.136
Sex,
Lifetime
Drug
Use
and
Educational
Fun
.404
Level
Interaction
Prosocial
activities
.236
Videogames
1.647
p
.663
.135
≤.001
≤.001
≤.001
.227
.009
.028
≤.001
.950
.044
.068
.100
.341
.585
.558
.711
.144
.525
.627
.200
Men and women from both educational levels
that ever used drugs are more engaged in
leisure activities than those who have not
consumed drugs ever (p ≤ 0.001). They
also had fewer prosocial activities than
nonusers (p ≤ 0.001).
Male consumers from 7th to 9th
grade are more involved in prosocial
activities than males from 10th
to 12th grade who use drugs (p =
0.028), and they tend to become
more involved in these activities than
women who use drugs from the same
educational level (p = 0.044). Women from
10th to 12th grade, have more leisure activities than those
who have used drugs in 7th to 9th grades (p = 0.009).
CONCLUSIONS
Leisure time is an essential element in the life of every human being and
in a greater extent in the life of adolescents, as this space allows them to
spend time with peers and strengthen their identity. Just as this time allow adolescents to have a positive development, it is also likely for
them to develop risky behaviors that will lead to substance abuse.
The results of this study show that adolescents who use drugs have a different time distribution to those who do not use drugs. Users
tend to perform activities that involve more social interaction with peers and fewer prosocial activities such as going out in
family and doing homework. They also spend more time on videogames, which are linked with alienation and inactivity
(Rodriguez, 2003).
Adolescents from 10th to 12th grades have more amusing and fun activities compared to the ones from 7th to
9th grades because being older gives more possibilities of going out alone and opens the door to have activities
at night which increases the risk of drug use (Fernández, 2002).
Our data is consistent with other international studies (Rodriguez, 2003; Espada, 2003; Infante, 2003; Lomba,
2009) that report young people using free time spaces for drug use, and where recreation area has 48.9% of
associated risk with drug use in adolescent students (Osorio, 2004).
In this context it is important to involve parents and schools in prevention programs focused on providing alternatives for teens
to distribute their leisure time on prosocial activities to facilitate healthy lifestyles and protect them from risky behaviors.
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Graphic Design: Carlos Blanco, Daniel Domínguez
The results show that men from 7th to 12th grade who use drugs spend more time in videogames compared with women who use drugs
(p ≤ 0.001). Likewise, those consumers from 7th to 9th grade spend more time on this activity than users from 10th to 12th grade (p ≤ 0.001).