Gender parity and drug use: are girls catching up with boys?

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association between gender and use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs in adolescents aged 10 to 18 years in the municipalities of Jacareí and Diadema, São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS A total of 971 adolescents completed the Drug Use Screening Inventory (DUSI). RESULTS In our sample, 55% of adolescents were male, 33.8% reported having made use in the previous month of alcohol, 13.5% of cigarettes, and 6.4% of illicit drugs. There was no significant difference between genders in the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs in any of the analysis (p > 0.05). The use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs was associated with the city, age, educational level, school failure, and relationship with parents (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Substance abuse among adolescents in our sample seems to follow the recent global trend towards the equalization of drug use between genders. This result should be taken into account by public health professionals in developing policies for this problem.