Aim To determine whether the following symptoms depressive symptoms, eating disorder symptoms and obsessive-compulsive symptoms among adolescents in Krakow secondary schools are associated with an increased risk of psychoactive substance use Method A representative sample of the population of Krakow secondary school pupils was tested A two-stage draw method identified a group of 2034 2nd form pupils of all types of secondary schools grammar schools technical schools and vocational schools (17-year olds) They were tested using the following screening questionnaires Beck Depression Scale EAT-26 eating disorders scale, Obsessive-compulsive disorder (Leyton) scale and the author's drug questionnaire Results The incidence of depressive symptoms among boys and girls is associated with an increased risk of alcohol use (74 8% among depressive boys versus 65 8% in the depressive group of girls), cigarette smoking (42 7% vs 46 7%) and drug use (29 0% vs 18 6%) All of the relationships are statistically significant in both sexes 41 7% depressive boys admit to smoking, vs only 32 6% in the non-depressive group In the girls' group, these relationships are as follows 46 7% versus 32 1% The relationships are statistically significant in both sexes The incidence of eating disorder symptoms among boys and girls is associated with a higher risk of alcohol use (respectively 73 5% vs 61 9%), cigarette smoking (42 1% vs 46 9%), and drug use (31, 6% versus 21 5%) Compared with a group of young people without eating disorder symptoms, the relationships are of statistical significance Conclusions Comorbidity of the following symptoms was found depressive symptoms, eating disorder symptoms, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and symptoms of psychoactive substance use The presence of depressive symptoms increases the risk of the use of psychoactive substances, especially alcohol and tobacco, to a lesser extent drugs, both in the boys and in the girls The presence of eating disorder symptoms increases the risk of smoking and drug use among both boys and girls