Patterns of substance abuse amoung secondary school students in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

A questionnaire survey of 1,603 secondary school students, aged 14-18 years, was conducted in Trinidad and Tobago in 1988. Prevalence of alcohol use was 84 percent, tobacco 35 percent, marijuana 8 percent, and cocaine 2 percent. Alcohol was the substance most consistently used, and student’s first exposure to drinking alcohol was with family members. Transitions from primary to secondary schools and from junior to senior schools were associated with increasing reporting of alcohol use. Significantly more Indo-Trinidadian than Afro-Trinidadian students reported using alcohol frequently. Conversely, more Afro-Trinidadian students than Indo-Trinidadian students reported using marijuana. The use of alcohol by students was positively correlated to its use by fathers and negatively with religious activities.