Students' Mental Health Disorders Linked to Higher Rates of Drug Use

A new study offers a glimpse into the link between mental health disorders and drug use among secondary school students in Brazil. Researchers at Columbia University and the Federal University of São Paulo found that students with symptoms of a mental illness were more likely to use alcohol, tobacco and marijuana in the past month than those without symptoms. More than 4,000 secondary school students from over a hundred schools in São Paulo participated in the study.

"Studies to determine which specific mental health symptoms are associated with substance use among adolescents in different settings are crucial," said Silvia Martins, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University. "In developing countries such as Brazil where a wide gap of social inequalities is observed, this is particularly important. Mental health policies should focus on these populations, especially since providing early treatment for psychiatric symptoms may have a direct impact on mental health prevalence and its costs among adults."