Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Substance use amongst adolescents remains a global public health challenge.
The potential negative health outcomes of substance use suggest the need to understand the pattern of use and the associated factors among adolescents. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of substance use, SUDs, and PD and the associated factors in adolescent learners at public schools in Gaborone, Botswana.
A cross-sectional study was conducted at 13 public secondary schools in Gaborone among students. The mean age SD of the participants was Over two-fifths Alcohol was the most used psychoactive substance The high prevalence of substance use and SUDs among in-school adolescents is concerning.
Substance use programs need to include family-focused and religious-based therapy and youth empowerment in developing positive peer relationships.
Also, they should be integrated with mental health screening to assess comorbid PD. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Disability, mental health conditions, including alcohol and drug-related problems, are the tenth leading cause of dysfunction in developed and developing countries [ 1 ].
