Consumo de sustancias estupefacientes en adolescentes en el Ecuador: Una revisión sistemática

Abstract

Introduction: Currently, the consumption of narcotic substances is a significant social problem that principally affects young people, many of whom are influenced by adults who succumb to their addictions. Objective: To investigate the consumption of narcotic substances in adolescents in Ecuador by a systematic review of the literature. Method: To investigate through a systematic review why the narcotic substance consumption occurs in adolescents in Ecuador, carried out under a qualitative approach. Results: Eleven publications were considered, which were obtained from different sources of scientific information such as Scopus, MEDLINE, SciELO, Redalyc, and other databases like ProQuest. The results indicate that the frequency with which adolescents feel the need to use addictive substances also shows that 7.19% of them smoke, followed by 17.86% of adolescents who consume alcohol. Conclusions: It was determined that the factors that affect the manifestation of an abuse or dependency problem are varied. Several risk factors have been identified, including individual, group, peer, family, and community influences, as well as genetic and environmental factors. These would increase a person’s genetic susceptibility to other risk factors, predisposing the subject to the consumption and later abuse or dependence on a given substance.

Keywords: adolescents, youth, illicit substances, narcotic substances, narcotic drugs.