Alcohol y otras drogas, salud mental, victimización y funcionalidad familiar en población universitaria en españaimplicaciones desde el trabajo social

Abstract

ABSTRACT Internationally, the student population shows high rates of mental health disorders such as alcohol and other drugs consumption and/or depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, having increased to a greater extent as a consequence of COVID-19 confinement. During the last two decades, scholars have been observing the risk and protection factors associated with both problems among this group, with special emphasis on being a victim of violent events among risk factors, and perceiving greater social support from family members and /or friends among protection factors. The main purpose of this Doctoral Thesis by compendium of publications is to explore different mental health disorders, as well as associated risk and protective factors among university students in Spain. To carry out the research, an analytical cross-sectional study was carried out at four universities in Spain, at two different points in time (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; and during the confinement derived from it). An anonymous and voluntary questionnaire was designed to collect the required demographic and academic data, in addition to the information on alcohol and other drugs consumption, ( via "Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Concise"), depression, anxiety and stress symptoms (“Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21”), family functionality level (family “APGAR”) and victimization (emotional, physical and / or sexual). Current results show a high prevalence of symptoms of depression (38.2%), anxiety (45.4%) and stress (42.5%), having increased to a greater extent during COVID-19 confinement, and being higher than those found in the general population. Regarding the consumption patterns, the consumption of alcohol (83.6%) stands out among legal substances whereas the consumption of cannabis (14.0%) predominates among illicit drugs. Concerning the analyzed types of victimization, non-physical victimization stands out with approximately one out of five participants. In addition, 4.6% and 4.4% of the participants were victims of physical and sexual violence, respectively, during the last year. Regarding the associated risk and protective factors, victimization statistically increased mental health problems, as well as alcohol and other drugs consumption. On the other hand, better family functionality was a protective factor against both problems analyzed. Current findings might be useful when designing and implementing prevention strategies aimed at improving individual and collective health of the university population in Spain. In addition, it is discussed how Social Work professionals could be key agents of awareness-raising and basic transformation to reduce risk factors and enhance associated protective factors.