Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatr. Dec 22, 2015; 5(4): 425-431
Published online Dec 22, 2015. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v5.i4.425
Prevalence of substance use among moroccan adolescents and association with academic achievement
Fatima El Omari, Stacy Salomonsen-Sautel, Analice Hoffenberg, Tyler Anderson, Christian Hopfer, Jallal Toufiq
Fatima El Omari, Jallal Toufiq, Arrazi University Psychiatric Hospital of Salé, CHU Ibn Sina Rabat-Salé, University Mohammed Vth of Rabat, Medical School, Rabat 10000, Morocco
Stacy Salomonsen-Sautel, Analice Hoffenberg, Tyler Anderson, Christian Hopfer, Division of Substance Dependence, Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, United States
Author contributions: All authors contributed to this manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Moroccan Ministry of Education, who acted as effective institutional review board.
Informed consent statement: Passive parental consent was provided as approved by the Moroccan Ministry of Education.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: Original data can be obtained by emailing Dr. El Omari at fatima_elomari@hotmail.com.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Christian Hopfer, MD, Professor, Division of Substance Dependence, Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Mail Stop F478, Aurora, CO 80045, United States. christian.hopfer@ucdenver.edu
Telephone: +1-303-7243170 Fax: +1-303-7243178
Received: May 7, 2015
Peer-review started: May 8, 2015
First decision: July 10, 2015
Revised: August 26, 2015
Accepted: September 25, 2015
Article in press: September 28, 2015
Published online: December 22, 2015
Abstract

AIM: To investigate rates of drug and alcohol use and their association with academic performance in Moroccan youth.

METHODS: An adapted version of the European School Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs survey was administered to 2139 10th-12th graders in 36 Moroccan public high schools. Two multiple logistic regressions were completed, one for male and one for female subjects. Grade average was used as a two-part outcome variable, and drug use was used as a four-level categorical independent variable. Parents’ education levels and socioeconomic status were included as covariates.

RESULTS: Of the subjects, 181 girls (16%) and 390 boys (40%) reported ever having used alcohol, hashish, or psychotropic drugs. Girls who had used any of those substances in the past 30 d demonstrated an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of 2.62 (95%CI: 1.31-5.22) of having average or below-average grades, and those with any lifetime use showed an AOR of 1.72 (95%CI: 1.07-2.77). Among the boys, use in the past 30 d was associated with an AOR of 2.08 (95%CI: 1.33-3.24) of average or below average grades, and use in the last 12 mo with an AOR of 1.74 (95%CI: 1.00-3.05). Any lifetime use among male and previous 12 mo use among female subjects were not significantly associated with academic achievement.

CONCLUSION: Among Moroccan adolescents, drug use is substantially different between boys and girls. In both genders, lower academic achievement was associated with alcohol, hashish, or psychotropic drug use in the last 30 d.

Keywords: Morocco, Academic performance, Drug and alcohol use, Adolescence

Core tip: Adolescent drug and alcohol use in Morocco is insufficiently documented. This study investigates its prevalence, its association with academic achievement, and different use patterns between genders in the country. We obtained these data using an adapted form of the European School Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs survey administered to 2139 high school students at urban public schools. Of those subjects, 181 girls (16%) and 390 boys (40%) reported use of alcohol, hashish, or psychotropic drugs at some point in their lifetime. Lower grades in both genders were associated with use of any substance in the last 30 d.