IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i4p2262-d751272.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Mediating Role of Contextual Problems and Sensation Seeking in the Association between Substance Use and Mental Health in Adolescents from Northern Chile

Author

Listed:
  • Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar

    (Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica 1000000, Chile)

  • Diego Atencio-Quevedo

    (Escuela de Psicología y Filosofía, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica 1000000, Chile
    Centro de Justicia Educacional (CJE), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 7820436, Chile)

  • Alfonso Urzúa

    (Escuela de Psicología, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta 1270709, Chile)

  • Jerome Flores

    (Escuela de Psicología y Filosofía, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica 1000000, Chile)

  • Matías Irarrázaval

    (Departamento de Psiquiatría, Facultad de Medicina, Hospital Clínico, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8380453, Chile
    Institute for Depression and Personality Research MIDAP, Santiago 8380453, Chile)

Abstract

Substance use is a risk behavior that has been associated with adverse mental health outcomes in adolescence. The aim of this study was to determine the relation between behavioral problems, emotional problems, and substance use as well as the mediating role of contextual problems and sensation seeking in this relation. A cross-sectional study of 2277 adolescents from Northern Chile was conducted. The System for the Evaluation of Children and Adolescents (SENA) was used to assess substance use, contextual problems, sensation seeking, and emotional and behavioral problems. Through a mediational model, it was observed that substance use has a positive indirect effect on emotional and behavioral problems when both contextual problems and sensation seeking act as mediating variables. An indirect effect of substance use on contextual problems with sensation seeking as a mediator was also observed. The results suggests that context and sensation seeking are a relevant source of information in understanding adolescents and their propensity to use drugs. Interventions based on addressing contextual problems (problems with school, peers, and family) and enhancing personal resources should be implemented in order to reduce substance use in adolescents as well as the consequences it can generate in the short, medium, and long term.

Suggested Citation

  • Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar & Diego Atencio-Quevedo & Alfonso Urzúa & Jerome Flores & Matías Irarrázaval, 2022. "The Mediating Role of Contextual Problems and Sensation Seeking in the Association between Substance Use and Mental Health in Adolescents from Northern Chile," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-12, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2262-:d:751272
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/2262/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/2262/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Russell D. Ravert & M. Brent Donnellan, 2021. "Impulsivity and Sensation Seeking: Differing Associations with Psychological Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(4), pages 1503-1515, August.
    2. Penprapa Siviroj & Karl Peltzer & Supa Pengpid & Sompong Morarit, 2012. "Helmet Use and Associated Factors among Thai Motorcyclists during Songkran Festival," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-12, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alba González Moreno & María del Mar Molero Jurado, 2022. "The Moderating Role of Family Functionality in Prosocial Behaviour and School Climate in Adolescence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-10, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bayu Satria Wiratama & Ping-Ling Chen & Liang-Hao Chen & Wafaa Saleh & Shang-Ku Chen & Hui-Tsai Chen & Hui-An Lin & Chih-Wei Pai, 2021. "Evaluating the Effects of Holidays on Road Crash Injuries in the United Kingdom," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-14, January.
    2. Heng Yang & Jianbin Jin, 2022. "Shared Destiny in the Digital Era: Sensation Seeking, Loneliness, and Excessive Internet Use among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Mainland China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-17, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2262-:d:751272. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.