Abstract

We investigated factors associated with benzodiazepine (BZD) use during late adolescence and early adulthood. The study population consisted of 508 adolescents admitted to psychiatric inpatient care between April 2001 and March 2006. Information on adolescents’ family- and school-related factors, suicidality and psychiatric disorders were obtained by semistructured interviews. Data on BZD prescriptions from 1999 to 2012 were collected from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. In males heavy BZD use associated with adolescent substance-use disorder (OR, 3.5; P < 0.004) and parents’ psychiatric problems (OR, 3.5; P = 0.029). Among females, conduct disorder (OR, 3.3; P = 0.016), being a bully/bully-victim (OR, 3.3; P = 0.019) and parental substance-use problems (OR, 2.6; P = 0.024) were related to heavy BZD use. The mean (±SD) age of first BZD prescription was significantly lower in heavy, compared with mild users (men: 19.3 ± 2.5 vs. 21.0 ± 2.5 years, P = 0.027; women: 19.7 ± 2.6 vs. 21.5 ± 3.4 years, P = 0.027). Heavy, compared with mild, BZD use is associated with female suicide attempts (OR, 5.0; P = 0.049). Physicians should be cautious when prescribing BZDs to young adults and must allocate treatment to those with carefully evaluated clinical indications.