[Substance use among adolescents: Addiction or self-handicap strategy?]

Self-handicapping strategies consist of creating or declaring obstacles to oneself before a situation of accomplishment that threatens the self, as might be the case during an academic assessment or a sporting competition, in order to protect oneself from a possible failure or to valorise oneself in the event of success. It turns out that beyond the physiological effects sought and the dependence linked to the product, the consumption of psychoactive substances can serve as an excuse for users in the event of failure, thus protecting their sense of competence or enhancing it in the event of success, for having succeeded in spite of their consumption, which is known to have a negative impact on performance.