{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T03:56:26Z","timestamp":1787025386018,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Scientific Scholar","content-domain":{"domain":["nmji.in"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["NMJI"],"abstract":"\n Background<\/jats:title>\n In the Indian context, there is no recent data on substance use among school students. We report on the pattern of substance use and associated factors among school students in a cross-sectional nationwide survey conducted in 10 cities of India.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n From each city, data from 200 students each from three schools (urban-government, urban-private, rural school) were collected. Within each school, a section from each grade (VIII, IX, and XI\/XII) was randomly selected. Finally, 5920 students (boys 52.4%, mean [SD] age 14.7 [1.6] years) self-administered the questionnaire in the classroom setting.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n There were 15.1% students who reported lifetime, 10.3% past year, and 7.2% past month use of any substance, including tobacco, with most being used occasionally. Substances used in the past year were tobacco (4%), alcohol (3.8%), opioids (2.8%), cannabis (2%), inhalants (1.9%), and sedatives (0.6%). Substance use was significantly higher among boys than girls and higher with increasing grades. Past year users had significantly high\/very high total difficulties score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (15.0 [5.1]) compared to non-users (13.4 [5.7]; p<0.001). There was a significant difference between substance users and non-users in the subscales conduct problem, hyper-activity, emotional problems, and in the impact score (p<0.001). Past year users compared to non-users reported higher \u2018substance use (any)\u2019 by family members (p<0.001) and peers (p<0.001).<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n A substantial proportion of school students reported using psychoactive substances, mostly for occasional use. School-based prevention efforts are required on a wide scale in the country. We recommend early identification and intervention for substance use in school settings.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.25259\/nmji_824_2022","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,2]],"date-time":"2025-12-02T08:53:59Z","timestamp":1764665639000},"page":"332-338","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.25259\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Substance use among school-going adolescents in India: Results from a nationwide survey"],"prefix":"10.25259","volume":"38","author":[{"given":"ANJU","family":"DHAWAN","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"BISWADIP","family":"CHATTERJEE","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"RACHNA","family":"BHARGAVA","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"ANITA","family":"CHOPRA","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Former Scientist, National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"PIYALI","family":"MANDAL","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"RAVINDRA","family":"RAO","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"ATUL","family":"AMBEKAR","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"ASHWANI","family":"MISHRA","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"ALOK","family":"AGRAWAL","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"DHRUBAJYOTI","family":"BHUYAN","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Assam Medical College, Barbari, Dibrugarh, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"C.R.J.","family":"KHESS","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Formerly Department of Psychiatry, Central Institute of Psychiatry, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"AJEET","family":"SIDANA","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"PRONOB","family":"DALAL","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Formerly Department of Psychiatry, King George\u2019s Medical University, Lucknow, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"ARUN","family":"KANDASAMY","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Formerly, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"M. 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