Adolescent Substance Abuse

Paper Summary:

This paper provides a general overview of adolescent substance abuse, including the types of substances typically abused by adolescents. These substances include tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and inhalants. A description of the statistics and incidence concerning adolescent substance abuse among various groups is presented, followed by a discussion of some of the more salient societal implications involved.

Outline:
Introduction
General Overview
Types of Substances Typically Abused by Adolescents
Marijuana Use Among Adolescents
Statistics/Incidence of Adolescent Substance Abuse
Societal Implications

From the Paper:

"While many of the studies to date have focused on age of onset, heavy episodic consumption and trend over time, there remains a paucity of research concerning specific variables that can predict why some adolescents progress from light experimentation (drinking outside the home on several occasions, but always fewer than five drinks per occasion) to heavier episodic-type drinking (five or more drinks per occasion) (Gonzalez et al., 2004). To this end, these authors used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), which they describe as "a large, national, longitudinal survey of approximately 18,000 adolescents in Grade 7 through 12--we identified a population of adolescent who, as reported at a baseline assessment, had drunk alcohol outside their homes but had not engaged in heavy episodic drinking" (Gonzalez et al., 2004, p. 494). These same adolescents were reinterviewed a year later and data from these interviews were then used as a basis for identifying specific variables that can be reasonably associated with the transition to heavy episodic drinking (Gonzalez et al., 2004). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Adamczyk-Robinette, S. L., Fletcher, A. C., & Wright, K. (2002). Understanding the authoritative parenting-early adolescent tobacco use link: The mediating role of peer tobacco use. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 31(4), 311.
• Agosti, V., Nunes, E., & Levin, F. (2002). Rates of psychiatric comorbidity among U.S. residents with lifetime cannabis dependence. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 28(4), 643.
• 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.

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