Motivación hacia el aprendizaje, asociación con la depresión, la intimidación y sustancias psicoactivas en adolescentes escolarizados

Motivation to learn addresses the potential to develop school behaviours that ensure high academic achievement and avoid dropout; its functionality involves the interaction between behaviour and the positive or negative consequences of this behaviour. The high frequency of situations with outcomes associated with punishment generates representations of low motivation, mood problems-depression and a tendency to develop externalising behaviours of bullying or impulsive behaviours, such as the risk of consuming psychoactive substances. The study seeks to describe each of the categories and define possible associations that affect the motivation to learn. The methodology used was quantitative, with a cross-sectional descriptive model and association analysis. The sample consisted of 200 adolescent students from three official institutions, who were assessed by way of the Motivational Evaluation for the Learning Process (EMPA) questionnaire; the Childhood Depression Inventory (CDI); the Bullying Exploration Questionnaire (CEBU); and the Alcohol, Tobacco and Substance Use Screening Test (ASSIST). The results identified 49 % of students with low motivation, 31 % with depression and 21.5 % with intimidation. For 40 % of the participants, their motivation is affected by mood and school bullying, but there was no association with the risk of drug use, although alcohol use was identified in 56.5 % of the cases, tobacco use in 6 % and cannabis use in 14 %.