title: Types of polydrug use among Spanish adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the types of polydrug use among Spanish adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  1501 high school students (50.6% female) aged 12 to 17years old (mean age=14.03, SD=1.28), from public schools in the city of Girona (Catalonia, Spain), completed the survey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the previous six months 20.9% of the Spanish adolescents used alcohol, 18.8% tobacco, 10.5% cannabis and 0.7% cocaine. Specifically, 28.6% of the sample (n=429; 29% males and 28.2% females) used at least one drug and 13.9% reported polydrug use (n=208; 12.6% males and 15.1% females). The present research also found that the most critical ages for starting polydrug use were 14 and 15years old. More than one quarter (27.9%) of the adolescent polydrug users were type A (tobacco and alcohol), 67.8% were type B (cannabis together with tobacco and/or alcohol) and 3.4% were type C (cannabis together with tobacco and/or alcohol, and cocaine).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that Spanish adolescents, particularly males, commence polydrug use at an earlier age than other European adolescents. Early preventative strategies and a multisubstance perspective are greatly needed in Spain to avoid the initiation of polydrug use or to prevent progress onto heavier drugs.
authors.affiliation: University of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. silvia.font@udg.edu
authors.forename: Sílvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Font-Mayolas
authors.forename: Maria Eugènia
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Gras
authors.forename: Natàlia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cebrián
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salamó
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Planes
authors.forename: Mark J M
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sullman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019969:Amphetamine-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine