Troubled adolescents: substance abuse and mental disorder in young offenders.

INTRODUCTION: Many studies indicate the high prevalence of juvenile substance abuse. There is increasingly more dual diagnosis and mental illnesses in adolescents and many juvenile offenses are related to drug abuse. METHOD: This is a descriptive study about the relationship between drug abuse and clinical, demographic and criminal characteristics in a sample of 144 youths seen in the Therapeutic Juvenile Justice Unit (UTJJ) of the Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu. RESULTS: A total of 65.3% of the sample had a disorder on Axis I, 22.2% of which were related with the psychotic spectrum and 18.1% ADHD. Personality disorder occurred in 42.4%, the most frequent ones being antisocial disorder (16%), and borderline personality disorder (6.9%). Of the sample, 78.5% were drug consumers and 51.4% of the total only consumed 1 substance. There is a tendency among psychotic teenagers to consume cannabis and ADHD patients to consume cannabis and cocaine. A significant relationship is found between nationality and inhalants drugs, social and economic level and sedative drugs and alcohol, and parental death and alcohol (p<0.05-0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The level of drug use/abuse in juvenile justice is very high. Although there is no evidence about the relationship between the substance they consume and the profile of the young offender, some tendencies are observed.

Adolescentes multiproblemáticos: consumo de tóxicos y trastorno mental en jóvenes que delinquen / Troubled adolescents: substance abuse and mental disorder in young offenders

Introducción. Numerosos estudios ponen de manifiesto la alta prevalencia de consumo de tóxicos en jóvenes. La patología dual y las enfermedades mentales en adolescentes aumentan cada vez más y muchos delitos se asocian al consumo de tóxicos. Metodología. Estudio descriptivo de la relación entre el consumo de tóxicos y las características clínicas, sociodemográficas y delictivas en una muestra de 144 jóvenes atendidos en la Unidad Terapéutica de Justicia Juvenil (UTJJ) del Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu. Resultados. El 65.3% de la muestra presentan un trastorno en el Eje I siendo el 22.2% del espectro psicótico y el 18.1% TDAH. El 42.4% presentan un trastorno de personalidad, los más frecuentes: Trastorno Antisocial (16%) y Trastorno Límite de Personalidad (6.9%). El 78.5% de los jóvenes consumen tóxicos, el 51.4% una única sustancia. Existe una tendencia en los jóvenes psicóticos a consumir cannabis y en los pacientes con TDAH al consumo de cannabis y cocaína. Se encuentra relación significativa entre la nacionalidad y el consumo de inhalantes, nivel socioeconómico y sedantes y alcohol, y la muerte de los padres y el alcohol (p<0.05-0.005). Conclusiones: El perfil de consumo de tóxicos en justicia juvenil es muy alto. A pesar de no haber encontrado perfiles diferenciados en función de tipo desustancia consumida, se evidencian algunas tendencias

Introduction. Many studies indicate the high prevalence of juvenile substance abuse. There is increasingly more dual diagnosis and mental illnesses in adolescents and many juvenile offenses are related to drug abuse. Method. This is a descriptive study about the relationship between drug abuse and clinical, demographic and criminal characteristics in a sample of 144 youths seen in the Therapeutic Juvenile Justice Unit (UTJJ) of the Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu. Results. A total of 65.3% of the sample had a disorder on Axis I, 22.2% of which were related with the psychotic spectrum and 18.1% ADHD. Personality disorder occurred in 42.4%, the most frequent ones being antisocial disorder (16%), and borderline personality disorder (6.9%). Of the sample, 78.5% were drug consumers and 51.4% of the total only consumed 1 substance. There is a tendency among psychotic teenagers to consume cannabis and ADHD patients to consume cannabis and cocaine. A significant relationship is found between nationality and inhalants drugs, social and economic level and sedative drugs and alcohol, and parental death and alcohol (p<0.05-0.005). Conclusions: The level of drug use/abuse in juvenile justice is very high. Although there is no evidence about the relationship between the substance they consume and the profile of the young offender, some tendencies are observed

Los límites de la reinserción comunitaria en salud mental desde el ámbito penitenciario / No disponible

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