Participación en delitos violentos y consumo de sustancias psicoactivas en adolescentes brasileños.

This paper investigates the relationship between substance use and delinquency in relation to violent offenses (V) and non-violent offenses (NV). A sample of 778 school adolescent was selected – it included only students who had committed at least one crime. The Questionário de Comportamentos Juvenis, which is an auto report questionnaire on offenses and substance use, was then used to record information from selected adolescents. The groups V and NV were compared by sex for variables related to alcohol, cannabis and other drugs use. The T test for independet groups was used to compare groups. The effect size was calculated based on the Cohen's d. In most cases, the average of substance use of V groups was larger than the average of NV groups, though with small effect sizes. The alcohol use among adolescent girls didn't show differences between groups. The results support previous studies' results. Longitudinal studies are needed to study the development of behavior, as well as studies with groups of juvenile offenders.Este estudio investiga la relación entre el consumo de sustancias y conductas delictivas violentas (V) y no violentas (NV). La muestra de 778 adolescentes escolares fue seleccionada por ya haber relatado la comisión de al menos un delito a lo largo de la vida. Respondierion al Questionário de Comportamentos Juvenis, una encuesta de autoinforme sobre comisión de delitos y consumo de sustancias. Los grupos V y NV, fueron comparados por sexo, en sus promedios de variables referentes al consumo de alcohol, de cannabis y de otras drogas, mediante la prueba T para muestras independientes. El tamaño del efecto fue calculado con el d de Cohen. Los promedios de consumo de los adolescentes V fueron mayores a los de los adolescentes NV, con tamaños del efecto pequeños. A parte de esto, el consumo de alcohol entre los adolescentes no ha mostrado diferencias entre ambos grupos. Los resultados se alinean parcialmente con la revisión de trabajos previos. Son necesarios estudios longitudinales que tengan en cuenta el desarrollo de las conductas, así como estudios con población de adolescentes infractores. This paper investigates the relationship between substance use and delinquency in relation to violent offenses (V) and non-violent offenses (NV). A sample of 778 school adolescent was selected – it included only students who had committed at least one crime. The Questionário de Comportamentos Juvenis, which is an auto report questionnaire on offenses and substance use, was then used to record information from selected adolescents. The groups V and NV were compared by sex for variables related to alcohol, cannabis and other drugs use. The t test for independet groups was used to compare groups. The effect size was calculated based on the Cohen’s d. In most cases, the average of substance use of V groups was larger than the average of NV groups, though with small effect sizes. The alcohol use among adolescent girls didn’t show differences between groups. The results support previous studies’ results. Longitudinal studies are needed to study the development of behavior, as well as studies with groups of juvenile offenders