[Life skills and drug use among Mexican adolescent students].

A cross-sectional study was carried out with the purpose of validating seven life skills scales reported in the literature as related to drug-abuse prevention, and which identify differences between these skills among non-user adolescent students and users of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and inhalants. The sample was made up of 425 adolescents, 196 (46.1%) male and 229 (53.9%) female. These participants were randomly selected from a private high school in the state of Morelos, and their mean age was 15.8 years, with a standard deviation of 1.97. To measure skills we used the scales validated in this survey, while patterns of drug use were measured with a scale based on the National Addiction Survey (2008) indicators. Results showed that students who did not use alcohol, tobacco, cannabis or inhalants scored higher in skills of empathy, future orientation and peer pressure resistance, compared to those who had used these substances in the last month. On the basis of these findings it would seem necessary to develop drug-abuse prevention programs for high school students based on a life skills training approach.