The odds of illicit substance use for adolescents from part time employed mothers were 29 times higher than those from self-employed mothers (Table 2). The majority of studies have found that depression begins before the onset of substance use, rather than substance use being a precursor to depression [77, 78, 85]. This is consistent with the idea that feelings of sadness and pain experienced during depression may lead adolescents to seek relief in the form of substance use [78]. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is defined by either sustained inattention, characterized in part by forgetfulness and distractedness, or ongoing hyperactivity-impulsivity [68]. In this definition, hyperactivity includes fidgeting and continuously moving, and impulsivity is characterized by interruptions and inability to wait [68]. The DSM-IV estimates that the prevalence of ADHD among school-aged children (from 5 to 17 years old) is approximately 3–5% [68].

Analyzing adolescent substance use and substance use disorder trends in the United States is vital in addressing public health concerns such as transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), vehicular deaths, and further acts of juvenile delinquency. As new trends emerge, risk factors leading to substance use and substance use disorders must be continuously assessed in order to design and enact effective prevention and intervention programs. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize current research regarding risk factors that lead to substance use and substance use disorders among adolescents. From an epidemiological perspective, substance use will be viewed as an outcome (in place of, e.g., an infectious disease) made more probable by certain risk factors.

DOMAIN: individual factor

Adolescent cannabis use as influenced by emotional support and positive evaluation was assessed controlling for gender, age, marital status of parent and maternal employment status. The odds of higher frequency of using cannabis when emotional support was at lowest level were 3.7 times more than those when emotional support was at level 2. The odds of using cannabis more frequently when positive evaluation was at lowest were 3.7 more than when positive evaluation was at level 2 (Table 3).

Considering the influence of parental legal substance use on adolescent illicit substance use controlling for ethnicity, the model statistically significantly predicted higher adolescent alcohol substance use. The odds of being in a higher category of alcohol use increased 1.5 times with each increase in the category of parental illicit substance use. For adolescents from non-alcoholic families, individual child characteristics were more important factors than parenting and relationship factors in determining adolescent substance use, according to the study. Moreover, according to an overview of a systematic review about interventions for adolescent substance abuse (Das et al., 2016), school programs based on the promotion of social competence and the antidrug information were effective. However, there was poor empirical evidence in the evaluation of the long-term efficacy and the sustainability of substance abuse programs for adolescents.

Recognizing the warning signs of teen drug abuse

In this case, it may be useful to carefully query George about his perception of how his drinking is affecting his family. It would also be helpful to educate him about his adolescent daughter’s increased risk of substance use problems given her exposure to his choices and behavior patterns. Research has improved our understanding of factors that help buffer youth from a variety of risky behaviors, including substance use. Recently, there have been increasing reports of the misuse of prescription and OTC drugs. OTC drugs are medications available without supervision, meaning that people can easily procure them.

Results from the ordinal logistic regression assessing the effect of parental substance use on adolescent substance use are presented in Table 3. When parental legal substance use was considered, there was a 13.7 and 9.26 decrease in adolescent illicit substance at the lowest parental legal substance use categories 1 and 2 respectively when compared with parental legal substance use category 6. The odds of adolescents using illicit substances more frequently when negative evaluation was at the lowest level were 5.3 times than when negative evaluation was at level 2.

DOMAIN: community factors

The author found no evidence of the adverse effects of public housing poverty and disadvantage conditions, comparing the group of youths who moved in other places with the group of youths lodged in a public house. These results show the importance of considering other factors, such as individual and family elements, which may play a moderating role in the adulthood outcomes, especially during development. While the maternal factors above were shown to be risk factors, the opposite effect was seen when the paternal figure equipped himself with sufficient knowledge. A study found that fathers with good information and awareness were more likely to protect their adolescent children from drug abuse [26].

The strength of these treatments is their focus on the interaction of several factors that trigger the vicious circle of crime and addiction in adolescence, and the results appear to have a broader outcome compared to the traditional family therapy approaches. Family-based therapy clients are less likely to be arrested, to relapse after a treatment, and to experiment internalizing and externalizing symptoms and in other co-occurring problems (Liddle et al., 2011). These data explained the reciprocal influence between parents and adolescents and highlighted the important implications for future clinical practice.

Data analysis

Exploratory data analysis was performed by cross tabulation of predictor and response variables and exploration of their interrelations. Cumulative odds ordinal logistic multivariate regressions with proportional odds were run to determine the effects of family management and relation variables controlling for demographic and socio-economic characteristics on adolescent substance use. Modelling was first performed for each independent variable against adolescent alcohol, cannabis and other illicit substance use. Variables that were significantly different at a screening p-value ≤0.1 were entered into multiple ordinal logistic regression models controlling for significant demographic and socio-economic characteristics [20]. The model was further considered to be of statistical significance insofar an association with the dependent variable over and above the intercept-only model whenever p-values were ≤ 0.05. Adjusted odds ratios with p-values and 95% confidence intervals were obtained to compare the influence of the family characteristics.

• In one group, the author analyzed the experiences of adults who were involved as children to a housing project in the Toronto metropolitan area.
• However, these drugs can also be harmful, as overdose can lead to addiction and dependency [25].
• For instance, the so-called family-based approach therapy in treating and preventing drug abuse and criminal behavior among youth provides such possibilities.
• 1 in 3 parents believe there is little they can do to prevent teen drug use despite evidence that shows parental involvement is the strongest factor in prevention.

Therefore, our findings for this domain were further broken down into five more sub-domains consisting of personal/individual traits, significant negative growth exposure, personal psychiatric diagnosis, previous substance history, comorbidity and an individual’s attitude and perception. Lower parental legal substance (alcohol) use had a protective effect against higher illicit substance use among the adolescents. Prior evidence indicates that children develop positive attitudes about alcohol use when their parents, or other family members, drink more and hold positive alcohol-related expectancies [15, 31, 36].

On the contrary, the presence of parents increments the perceived support of the participants and, therefore, decreases risky conducts (Brown and Shillington, 2017). According to Tucker et al. (2013), in addition to the lack of closeness to parents, the availability of drugs at home and parents’ perception of alcohol and illegal drugs also are two variables within family risk factors, which can influence substance abuse conduct among youth. Aggressive criminal behaviors in adolescence often aim to achieve autonomy (Piquero et al., 2013) and to build one’s identity, simultaneously modified by the family system and environment (Willoughby et al., 2014). The primary theoretical frameworks in criminology and developmental psychology suggest a multifactorial approach in the study of the topic. Indeed, risk-taking behavior in adolescence needs to consider individual, family, and environmental factors (Lösel and Farrington, 2012).

Non-linear association between the deviant peers scale and illicit drug use at follow-up. Values on the y-axis denote log odds ratio (solid line) and 95% confidence intervals (dotted lines). A total of 2139 students (12–13 years old) started in the seventh grade in the 21 schools teen drug abuse in 2004. The 1436 participants who were eligible for participation were given questionnaires in the classroom at four waves during the junior high school. Data from the fall semester of seventh grade was used as baseline, and data from ninth grade, 32 months later, as follow-up.