Why do Teens Use Drugs? Causes, Signs, and What to Do

While drug use may increase the risk of mental health disorders, it’s also important to note that these disorders can lead to substance abuse to self-medicate or numb the emotional pain. If you suspect that a teenager is experiencing either, consult a pediatrician or mental health professional as soon as possible. A study showed that 60% of teens in a community-based substance use treatment program were also diagnosed with a mental health disorder. Wanting to fit in with peers, feeling overwhelmed by their changing brains and bodies, and pressure to perform in school or sports are just a few reasons why teens may start experimenting with drugs.

Public Health

Students complete a brief online assessment survey between the first session and second session. BASICS received a score of 3.9 (out of 4.0) on readiness for dissemination by NREPP. While MTF trend data have shown gradual decreases in prevalence rates of smoking, alcohol use, and many forms of illicit drug use among adolescents, there have been increases in some forms of substance use and abuse as well. MTF findings reveal that non-medical prescription drug abuse is a growing problem among adolescents.

How to Talk to Your Teen About Drug Use

Otherwise, this can be taught using national survey data which typically show prevalence rates that are considerably lower than what teens believe. Additionally, normative education attempts to undermine popular but inaccurate beliefs that substance use is considered acceptable and not particularly dangerous. This can be done by highlighting evidence from national studies that shows strong anti-drug social norms and generally high perceived risks of drug use in the population. Fear of teen drug abuse health consequences was predominantly related to abstaining from illicit drugs, but also alcohol. Motives for abstaining from alcohol included perceived risk of being addicted, due to relatives having alcohol problems (heredity), and taking medicine, for example ADHD medicine, since combining alcohol and medication was perceived as risky. Some students had observed friends getting “weird” or “laze” after using illicit drugs, which made them hesitant to use such substances themselves.

Evidence-Based Prevention Programs

In addition to the parent and youth training sessions, the CLFC program aims to foster greater use of community services in resolving family problems and addressing youth problem behavior. In cases when fear does get diminished for adolescents, it regularly returns with the passage of time. The finding that adolescents “learn” to extinguish fear less readily than younger or older people has been replicated in studies across species (mice, rats and humans). Most notably, during this developmental period, the amygdala is much more involved in sustaining the fear memory than the prefrontal cortex is in initiating the extinction process. A lower ability to initiate fear-­extinction learning is thought to confer a risk for anxiety.

• However, many of the participants reported that their parents would be upset and disappointed if they found out that their child used illicit substances, which motivated some of them to abstain.
• Injecting drugs with shared needles increases the risk of contracting HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.
• The third component aims to reduce drinking and driving through increased law enforcement and sobriety checkpoints.
• Unfortunately, from an adolescent’s point of view, engaging in alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use may be seen as a functional way of achieving independence, maturity, or popularity, along with other developmental goals.
• People don’t really know what to do when they see their friends do it [use substances].
• They learn about the developing brain in a positive way—whereas teens were long told they can’t make good decisions, Safety First empowers them to choose to protect their brains and bodies by making healthy choices across the board.

Community Trials Intervention to Reduce High-Risk Drinking

It has been adapted and tested among students attending traditional high schools as well. Project TND received a score of 3.1 (out of 4.0) on readiness for dissemination by NREPP. There are presently various educational programs in place for this very reason, including universal, selective, and indicated programs. Universal programs function to teach social, personal, and drug resistance techniques on a weekly basis.

• Ibogaine is a natural substance found in the root of a plant that grows in West Africa.
• Typically, this involves working closely with local community organizations, opinion leaders, law enforcement, zoning and planning commissions, policy makers, and the public to collect this information.
• The encouraging news is that treating issues like depression and anxiety can reduce or end substance use or even prevent it from starting.
• Knowing the causes, like cultural and peer influence, and signs may help your child stay drug-free.
• In addition, BASICS was found to produce effects on negative consequences of alcohol use.
• Students can obtain alcohol via social media platforms, such as Instagram and Snapchat, where “liquor cars” market themselves and offer home delivery.

Academic pressure, low self-esteem, and peer pressure are just a few factors that increase their risk of substance use. Vaping is attractive to teens because e-cigarettes are often flavored like fruit, candy, or mint. These products may contain nicotine or other synthetic substances that damage the brain and lungs. The teenage brain is vulnerable to the harmful effects of nicotine, including anxiety and addiction.

• National Institute on Drug AbuseA division of the National Institutes of Health, NIDA’s mission is to lead the nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction.
• Interestingly, the students also suggested stricter regulations on substances with intensified legal measures for those providing substances.
• Yet another participant explained that academic failure had previously made her use substances to comfort herself.
• Teenagers who misuse substances can experience drug dependence (substance use disorder).

Substance Abuse Prevention

A subsample of adolescents considered to be at high risk for substance use initiation were found to engage in less smoking, drinking, inhalant use, and multiple drug use compared with similarly matched controls. A third randomized controlled trial of a rural predominantly White sample found a significantly slower rate of increase in substance use initiation from at the posttest, one-year follow-up, and five and a half years past baseline compared to controls. The LST group was found to engage in less methamphetamine use in the 11th and 12th grade follow-up assessments, relative to controls. When growth over time was examined in a high risk subsample, the LST group had slower increases in the rates of marijuana use and multiple drug use compared to controls. In addition, LST was found to produce effects on violence and delinquency, normative beliefs about substance use, and substance use refusal skills. Firstly, we were able to recruit both male and female students between 15 and 19 years of age, living inside the affluent community as well as in neighboring municipalities, which provided us with a broad base of the students’ social context.

Motives for using substances

• Nearly 30,000 youth aged out of foster care in Fiscal Year 2009, which represents nine percent of the young people involved in the foster care system that year.
• Parenting can affect substance use both directly and indirectly by influencing established precursors of substance use such as aggressive behavior and other conduct problems.
• With regard to selective prevention, the students were critical of the current risk of being reported to parents, registered within medical records or reported to the authorities if turning to professionals for support for substance use problems.
• She hopes to develop community engagement models that will work not only in Paterson, but in struggling urban communities across the United States.
• Instead of trying to scare them out of that choice or build shame and stigma around the addiction history in our family, I am choosing to provide them with the essential knowledge and skills they need to make informed decisions about substance use.
• Although starting a conversation about drug use may feel overwhelming, it’s an essential step in helping your teen recover.

These differences were further accentuated by informants’ descriptions of large villas in the affluent municipality, where students can arrange parties while the parents go to their holiday homes. Some informants further pointed to the fact that people in this municipality easily can afford to buy illicit drugs, increasing the availability. In the current study, we aim to explore motives for using, or abstaining from using, substances among students in affluent areas. In addition, we aim to explore their attitudes to and suggestions for substance use prevention. The findings may make a valuable contribution to the research on tailored substance use prevention for groups of adolescents that may not be sufficiently supported by current prevention strategies. In parallel with identification of various groups at risk for extensive substance use, a growing number of young people globally abstain from using substances [1, 40, 41].