Relationship Between Sexual Abuse and Substance Use Among Students from Caribbean Colombian

ABSTRACT

Sexual abuse is a public health problem due to its negative impact on physical and mental health. This study aimed to determine the association between sexual abuse and the use of psychoactive substances among high-school adolescents in Colombia. A cross-sectional analytical study was designed in which tenth and eleventh-grade students were included. Overall, a history of sexual abuse was explored with the Trauma Symptom Checklist, and lifetime substance use was assessed with the United States Centers for Disease Control Youth Risk Behavior Questionnaire. The prevalence of sexual abuse was 17.4%, lifetime alcohol use was 77.4%, cigarette 22.4%, cannabis 11.6%, cocaine 2.7%, and other substances 5.1%. History of sexual abuse was associated with alcohol use (OR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.10–2.30), cigarette (OR = 2.08, 95% CI 1.51–2.85), cannabis (OR = 2.43, 95% CI 1.66–3.56), cocaine (OR = 2.51, 95% CI 1.25–5.04) and use of other substances (OR = 2.33, 95% CI 1.31–4.13). The history of sexual abuse is related to the use of substances in high school adolescents in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. More studies are needed to identify the impact of sexual abuse on short-term and lifelong mental health.

KEYWORDS:

• Mental health
• sexual abuse
• adolescents
• cross-sectional studies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical standards and informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation university institution in Santa Marta approved the project during the ordinary session on July 18, 2017, Colombian standards summarized in Resolution 8340 of 1993 and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by a grant from the University of Magdalena (Resolution 0347 of 2018 - Fonciencias 2017) to Adalberto Campo-Arias, Principal Investigator.

Notes on contributors

Carmen Cecilia Caballero-Dominguez

Carmen Cecilia Caballero-Dominguez, Ph.D., Associate Research (Minciencias, COL), Director of the Research and Health Group, Professor of the Psychology Program of the University of Magdalena. Carmen Caballero-Dominguez, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad del Magdalena, Santa Marta, MAG-CO; María P. Jiménez-Villamizar, Scholarship from the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation of Colombia. Department of Basic, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, BCN-ES; Adalberto Campo-Arias, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad del Magdalena, Santa Marta, MAG-CO.

Adalberto Campo-Arias

Adalberto Campo-Arias, MD, MSc, Junior Researcher (Minciencias, COL), Member of Section on Stigma and Mental Disorders, World Psychiatric Association, Associate Professor, Medicine Program, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad del Magdalena.

María Paola Jiménez-Villamizar

María Paola Jiménez-Villamizar, MSc, Research Junior (Minciencias, COL), f the ReMO Researcher Mental Health Observatory [CA19117], Ph.D. Student Psychology of Health and Sports, Department of Basic, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona.