Risk behaviours of portuguese adolescents and environment influence

Introduction: Adolescence is a period of intense transformation, searching for identity and need for experimentation. Objectives: To understand the patterns of drug use and sexuality in adolescents in an urban Greater Oporto area and discern the influence of socio-environmental. Methods: Cross-sectional study; convenience sample of adolescents registered in an urban public high school that carried out an anonymous questionnaire between October and November 2012. Results: We obtained a total of 141 surveys, the average age was 13.8 years. One third of adolescents had experimented tobacco or alcohol; 8.5%, cannabis. Tobacco use was significantly associated to alcohol consumption, cannabis or other drugs. Were sexually active, 14.9% of adolescents and the average age of onset of sexual activity was 13.7 years. Do not use a condom at last sexual relation, 28.6%. There was a significant association between sexual activity and alcohol consumption, cannabis or other drugs. The consumption of tobacco and cannabis was significantly associated with consumption on family and friends. The academic failures were associated with the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other drugs. Conclusion: The tobacco was a predictor of use of other substances, which gives utmost importance to programs aimed at the prevention of consumption. Given the significant associations, we consider crucial to know the adolescents socioenvironmental, identifying vulnerable groups, in which selective prevention strategies would be recommended. Early onset of sexual activity observed is worrying and allows us to infer about the high prevalence of sexual risk-taking