Relação entre o estresse e o uso de substâncias psicoativas em universitários

Abstract

Introduction: During the university phase the students coexist with the increase of stressful situations and of risk factors for the use of psychoactive substances. Objective: to relate stress levels to the use of psychoactive substances by university students. Method: The research was realized in a Health Sciences Campus of a University of the Northeast of the country. Participants in the study were male and female students over 18 years of age from eight health courses. To evaluate the stress was used the Inventory of Symptoms of Stress for Adults of Lipp and for analysis of the use of psychoactive substances was used the screening test ASSIST. Pearson's bivariate correlation tests were used for analysis of the statistic, considering level of significance the value = 0.05. Results: 166 students participated in the study. Stress was detected in 125 (75.3%) participants, being the resistance phase more frequent. The predominance of the symptoms was psychological. The most commonly used psychoactive substances were alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, respectively, with 74 (44.6%) people requiring referral for some type of intervention regarding the use of these substances. Conclusion: The study observed a significant relation between the number of people with stress and need for intervention due to the use of psychoactive substances.