Quantitative exploratory study that examines the relationship between drug use and abuse during childhood among university students in Leon, Nicaragua. A cross-sectional study was designed with a bio-ecological perspective. The sample includes 368 students, where 48.4 % (178) were men and 51.6% (190) were women. The results highlighted that the negligence was found in 54.6% of participants, without gender differences (56.2% men and 53.2% women). Psychological abuse accounted for 40.5% of the students with small gender differences (39.3% men and 41.6% female). Moreover, 54.1% of participants had separated parents, 44.3% live or lived at some point in their life with an alcoholic, 28.8% have witnessed abuse to their mother or caretaker, 26.1% have lived or live with a family member with mental illness, while 21.2% lived with a drug addict. It can be concluded that child maltreatment is common and that negligence is an everyday event among participants.
Narcotics; Child abuse; Students; University