Introduction:

The growing prevalence of psychoactive substance use among the youth, both in Morocco and globally, underscores the magnitude of the issue. Particularly concerning is the rise of this trend among university students. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of substance use and its correlates among young students in the North of Morocco.

Material and methods:

A cross-sectional multicentre study was conducted across nine institutions of Abdelmalek Essaâdi University (UAE) encompassing diverse disciplines such as medicine, engineering, law and economics. Data on mental disorders was collected through face-to-face interviews using the Arabic version of the MINI (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) questionnaire.

Results:

Among 1168 students, we gained the following results: tobacco consumption 10.1% [95% CI: 8.4-12.0], alcohol consumption 5.7% [95% CI: 4.4-7.1] and cannabis consumption 7.2% [95% CI: 5.7-8.8]. Substance-related disorders revealed an overall prevalence of 2.4% [95% CI: 1.6-3.4]. Numerous factors were found to be significantly associated with psychoactive substance consumption and its associated disorders, notably including personal factors like male gender, history of mental problems, judicial history and compulsive gaming and family factors, including married marital status, high household income, parental alcohol or drug use, family mental disorder history, living away from family and a history of negative events during childhood or adolescence.

Discussion:

Previous research has suggested that youth addiction to psychoactive substances is a multifactorial condition that can be influenced by a variety of individual and environmental factors. Our study supports these findings, confirming that individual and family factors play an important role in addiction risk.

Conclussions:

The identified factors associated with substance consumption highlight the need for targeted interventions and preventive measures to address this public health issue effectively.