Adolescent Substance Abuse

Paper Summary:

This paper provides a general overview of adolescent substance abuse, including a discussion of some of the more salient societal implications involved. A description of the statistics concerning adolescent substance abuse and its incidence among various groups is followed by a discussion of social identity theory, group affiliation and their respective influence on adolescent substance abuse patterns. An analysis of some of the more common types of substances typically abused by American adolescents today is also followed by a discussion of the various factors that have been shown to contribute to adolescent substance abuse behaviors and place these young people at higher risk of becoming substances abusers, as well as some behaviors that have been shown to mediate such risk.

Outline:
Introduction
General Overview
Societal Implications
Statistics/Incidence of Adolescent Substance Abuse
Social Identity Theory, Group Affiliation and Their Influence on Adolescent Substance Abuse
Types of Substances Typically Abused by Adolescents
Factors Contributing to Adolescent Substance Abuse Behaviors
Summary

From the Paper:

"Calculating the precise incidence of substance abuse among adolescence has been complicated by the fact that some minority groups appear to be specifically targeted for such testing when they present for emergency treatment at many American hospitals today. For example, the results of an analysis of data collected on adolescents (aged 12 through 17 years) from the National Trauma Data Bank to identify the incidence of alcohol and drug testing in adolescents admitted for traumatic injury by Marcin and his colleagues (2003) found significant differences in the likelihood of alcohol and drug testing being ordered by the treating clinicians for different racial, ethnic, and gender groups which demonstrated an increased likelihood of Hispanic males and African American females to receive alcohol testing, but did not identify any systematic attempt at racial bias; this study, though, did determine that females of all races were less likely than males to test positive for alcohol and drugs (Marcin et al., 2003). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
• Ammerman, R. T., Ott, P. J., & Tarter, R. E. (1999). Prevention and societal impact of drug and alcohol abuse. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• August, G. J., Bloomquist, M. L., Braswell, L., Crosby, R. D., Realmuto, G. M., & Skare, S. S. (1997). School-based secondary prevention for children with disruptive behavior: Initial outcomes. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 25(3), 197.
• Barrett, K., Dakof, G. A., Diamond, G. S., Liddle, H. A., Parker, K., & Tejeda, M. (2001). Multidimensional family therapy for adolescent drug abuse: Results of a randomized clinical trial. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 27(4), 651.
• Beman, D. S. (1995). Risk factors leading to adolescent substance abuse. Adolescence, 30(117), 201.

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