earticle

영어

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of loneliness on habitual drug use in Korean adolescents. Methods: The study was designed as a cross-sectional study. Using statistics from the 16th (2020) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted. A total 54,948 adolescents were included in the analysis. Results: Adolescents were more likely to engage in habitual drug use when they were lonely than when they were not (OR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.20~2.02). As for sociodemographic characteristics, gender, academic achievement, and living with family were factors influencing habitual drug use. As for health behavior characteristics, perceived stress, depression, current drinking, violence, sexual intercourse, and perceived health were identified as factors affecting habitual drug use. Conclusion: Provision of education that includes loneliness as a factor, which was not previously considered important in school education for preventing habitual drug use of adolescents, should be considered.