Table 1.
Past 3-month substance use profile of 1107 young people presenting for mental health care by age group and sex
| Characteristic | Overall (N = 1107) | Age | Sex at birth | LGBTIQA+ status | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12–17 (n = 500) | 18–25 (n = 607) | p value | Female (n = 717) | Male (n = 389) | p value | No (n = 738) | Yes (n = 301) | p value | ||
| Tobacco use | 351 (33%) | 100 (21%) | 251 (43%) | < 0.001 | 218 (32%) | 133 (36%) | 0.221 | 232 (32%) | 109 (37%) | 0.174 |
| Alcohol use | 665 (63%) | 184 (39%) | 481 (82%) | < 0.001 | 452 (66%) | 212 (57%) | 0.004 | 444 (62%) | 206 (69%) | 0.029 |
| Illicit substance usea | 324 (31%) | 90 (19%) | 234 (40%) | < 0.001 | 203 (30%) | 120 (32%) | 0.406 | 207 (29%) | 108 (36%) | 0.020 |
| Other substance useb | 140 (13%) | 40 (8.5%) | 100 (17%) | < 0.001 | 93 (14%) | 46 (12%) | 0.638 | 89 (12%) | 49 (17%) | 0.095 |
| Polysubstance usec | < 0.001 | 0.015 | 0.053 | |||||||
| No drug use | 320 (30%) | 252 (53%) | 68 (11%) | 191 (28%) | 129 (34%) | 227 (31%) | 73 (24%) | |||
| Using one drug only | 298 (28%) | 98 (21%) | 200 (34%) | 211 (31%) | 87 (23%) | 204 (28%) | 83 (28%) | |||
| Polydrug use | 449 (42%) | 125 (26%) | 324 (55%) | 288 (42%) | 160 (43%) | 296 (41%) | 143 (48%) | |||
| Polysubstance use (excluding tobacco and alcohol)d | < 0.001 | 0.420 | 0.043 | |||||||
| No drug use | 676 (64%) | 360 (76%) | 316 (54%) | 443 (64%) | 233 (62%) | 475 (66%) | 171 (57%) | |||
| Using one drug only | 240 (23%) | 81 (17%) | 159 (27%) | 158 (23%) | 82 (22%) | 152 (21%) | 79 (27%) | |||
| Polydrug use | 146 (14%) | 32 (6.8%) | 114 (19%) | 87 (13%) | 58 (16%) | 96 (13%) | 48 (16%) | |||
| Harms associated with any drug use | ||||||||||
| Urge to use | 559 (52%) | 149 (31%) | 410 (69%) | < 0.001 | 374 (54%) | 185 (49%) | 0.134 | 369 (51%) | 174 (58%) | 0.036 |
| Led to problemse | 242 (23%) | 52 (11%) | 190 (32%) | < 0.001 | 141 (20%) | 101 (27%) | 0.021 | 166 (23%) | 74 (25%) | 0.564 |
| Failed normal expectations | 205 (19%) | 54 (11%) | 151 (26%) | < 0.001 | 130 (19%) | 75 (20%) | 0.721 | 133 (18%) | 68 (23%) | 0.122 |
| Caused concerns | 240 (22%) | 67 (14%) | 173 (29%) | < 0.001 | 139 (20%) | 101 (27%) | 0.015 | 162 (22%) | 75 (25%) | 0.376 |
Statistics presented are n (%) with p value estimated from Chi-squared test. Missing data include 1 for sex at birth, 68 for LGBTIQA+ , 52 for tobacco use, 48 for alcohol use, 45 for illicit drugs use, 50 for other drug use (sedatives, Inhalants or other), 40 for polysubstance use (including tobacco and alcohol), 45 for polysubstance use (excluding tobacco and alcohol), 40 for urge to use, 40 for led to problems, 40 for failed normal expectation and 40 for caused concerns
aIllicit substance includes ATS, cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens and opioids
bOther substances include sedatives, inhalants or other substance which is not captured by the main WHO-ASSIST substance groups but was reported as a free text field
cUse of more than one substance in the past 3 months including tobacco and alcohol
dUse of more than one substance in the past 3 months excluding tobacco and alcohol
eLed to health, social, legal or financial problems