TEENAGE BOYS who smoke cannabis are more likely to engage in anti-social activities than girls who abuse the drug, according to new research.
Young cannabis users also appeared to have more negative attitudes about school than non-users, the researchers from Queen's University Belfast found.
More than 4,000 young people aged between 11 and 15 completed a questionnaire about their mental health, behaviour and drug use. Twenty per cent were found to be more prone to mental health issues and also reported cannabis use.
The research findings, carried out as part of the Belfast Youth Development Study, were presented yesterday at the British Psychological Society's annual conference in Dublin.
In other research presented to the conference, scientists from UCD and the University of Ulster found that athletes with the most positive attitudes towards taking performance-enhancing drugs were also the ones who set themselves the highest personal standards.
The researchers asked more than 340 high performance athletes from 15 countries and 28 different sports to complete tests designed to find out their attitudes towards taking banned substances.
Those most open to doing so wanted the best and were using their sport as a means to an end, they found.
The role of coaches was also important, with trainers influencing the doping attitudes of the athletes they worked with.
"Psychology is a new avenue anti-doping bodies can develop to understand why athletes are drawn to doping," said Kate Kirby, one of the research team. "We suggest that bodies should broaden their education and prevention programmes to include coaches and support staff, and not focus their interventions solely on athletes."
