Abstract: Objective To investigate the causes and influencing factors of first-time drug abuse among adolescents in Shenzhen, and to provide reference for establishing a first-level intervention model for drug abuse among adolescents in Shenzhen. Methods A cross-sectional survey was carried out through the "Shenzhen Youth Drug Abuse Survey Form". Descriptive analysis, Chi-square test and logistic regression were used to describe and compare drug abuse characteristics of drug-abusers of different genders and occupations. Results A total of 1,506 drug abusers under 35 years old were included in the survey, 69.8% of whom were holders of junior high school diplomas or worse. Most of them were unemployed. The influencing factors for synthetic drug abuse were age, gender, and family incomes. Synthetic drugs were obtained mainly online. Conclusion There are different causes of synthetic drug abuse among adolescents, including personal understanding of drugs, mental state, family, and society. Adolescents should be better informed of the harm of drug abuse and control of drug abuse among young people should be tightened.

Key words: adolescents, drug abuse, influencing factors