Introduction: the Self-control has been understood as the ability to override or modify internal responses, interrupt unwanted internal responses, interrupting unwanted behavioral tendencies, and refraining and tendencies and to refrain from acting accordingly. Its study has been approached clinical and non-experimental research through the use of self-report scales self-report scales. Objective: assess the validity and precision evidence of the Brief Self-Control Scale (EBA-AM), the creation of a scale score and the association between Self-Control with substance use in 1,004 Mexican adolescents (59.4% female) aged 11 - 19 years from a public middle school and high school in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara. Method: a self-administered questionnaire was administered using Google Forms that included the assessment of sociodemographic variables, substance use and the 13-item Brief Self-Control Scale. An exploratory factor analysis was carried out in which a structure with 10 items grouped into two factors was identified. Subsequently, a second-order confirmatory factor analysis was performed, the internal consistency of the scale was estimated using McDonald’s Omega, the EBA-AM was scored using percentiles and the association of the scale with substance use was assessed. Results: different structural, single and multidimensional models were tested, and the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis presented better goodness of fit with ten items grouped into two factors: Impulse Control, with six items, and Self-discipline, with four items. Internal consistency was ω = .82. It was identified that the overall self-control score showed a high correlation with the use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, inhalants and illicit drugs. The linear correlation was significant and explained 56% of substance use with self-control. Discussion and conclusions: validity and precision evidence support the use of the Brief Self-Control Scale in Mexican Adolescents.
