Background: Emotional and mental disorders among adolescents show an increasing trend, especially when associated with substance use including narcotics, psychotropics, and other addictive substances. Adolescents are vulnerable to emotional and social changes, prone to the exposure of substance use which may negatively affect their mental health. National Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) shows 6.1% of Indonesian population experiences it. Objective: This study aims to analyze the relationship between substance use and the severity of emotional and mental disorders in adolescents Methods: This is an observational study with a cross-sectional design. Purposive sampling technique was used to include 102 high school students in 10th grade in this study. Substance use was assessed using the ASSIST and levels of emotional and mental disorders were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Data analysis was performed using Chi-Square test to evaluate the relationship between the two variables. Results: Of the 102 respondents, 18 (17.6%) were involved in moderate risk substance use while 11 respondents (10.89%) were classified as high-risk. 29 respondents were exposed to tobacco, six to alcohol, and one student to sedatives. SDQ score shows 24 respondents (23.5%) were categorized as borderline, whereas 17 (16.7%) had abnormal. The relationship between substance use involvement and emotional mental disorders was evaluated with chi square yielding p = 0.008. Conclusion: These findings indicate a significant relationship between involvement in substance use and severity of emotional mental disorders among adolescents.
Himawan et al. (Wed,) studied this question.