Abstract
Adolescence is a stage in which young children are transitioning
into adulthood and during this time there are challenges that can be
encountered that can impact development. Prior to reaching adulthood substance
abuse is an issue that many adolescents are faced with. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (2014),
states that nearly 70 percent of high school students will have consumed
alcohol by the time they become seniors, 50 percent will have engaged in the
use of illegal drugs, almost 40 percent tried smoking a cigarette on more than
one occasion, and a little over 20 percent experimented with prescription drugs
for recreational use. There are many
factors that influence adolescent substance abuse and it is a serious problem
that can affect cognitive, physical and social development and providing a
breakdown of those factors will allow the opportunity to identify successful
intervention techniques.
The act of ingesting, inhaling, or injecting something that can be
detrimental to the health of an individual, “usually for psychoactive
(mood-altering) purposes” (Wulffson, 2015) is known as
substance abuse. Alcohol, tobacco,
prescription drugs and medications purchased over-the counter are commonly used
products that are legal substances and cocaine, marijuana, hallucinogens,
methamphetamine, and heroin are illegal substances. Substance abuse is a problem that has been
increasing amongst our youth and efforts have been made to gain a better
understanding on the issue by examining biological and environmental factors
that could be contributing factors in adolescents deciding to experiment with substances. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health
performed a study in 2014 stated that approximately 27 million Americans 12
years of age and older was reportedly used illegal substances within one month
of the survey being conducted.
Therefore, it is imperative that an explanation on how adolescents
develop substance abuse issues is provided.
During the adolescent years, the human brain is experiencing major
changes that involve their “emotional/social network outpace development of the
cognitive-control network” (Berk, 2014, p. 368) and because of these
changes they are more than likely to engage in risky behavior such as substance
use. As the brain is developing during
this period there are biological and environmental factors that could increase
the chances of adolescents developing substance abuse problems. Substance abuse and addiction disorders have
been linked to biological factors such as genetics. Research is continuously being performed to determine
if substance abuse and addiction disorders can be inherited though genetics and
thus far it has been acknowledged that inherited factors do exist, however
there has not been any concrete evidence to determine what is inherited. For example, an adolescent with a family
history of drug abuse can “have an increased susceptibility or sensitivity to
the effects of drugs with reinforcing properties” (Biological
Components of Substance Abuse and Addiction, 1993) and those reinforcing
properties are environmental factors.
Factors that Influence
Substance Abuse
Environmental factors that influence adolescent substance abuse
problems include access to substances, exposure to substance abuse through
observing others and socioeconomic status.
Socioeconomic status is an individual’s social status which represents
their place in society and is “earned through actions or accomplishments” (Campbell,
2016) . Adolescents that live in an environment of a
lower socioeconomic status, meaning that education levels and income are less
than average, tend to have more access to illegal substances because there is a
high level of the availability of drugs in those types of communities and are
exposed to substance abuse though the observation of others. Communities that are of a lower socioeconomic
status often have a high presence of outlets that distribute alcoholic
beverages and tobacco sales that increase the exposure to adolescents and
“facilitate substance use and initiation and potential abuse” (Mennis,
Stahler, & Mason, 2016) . Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
suggest that human behavior is learned through observing others and that is a
contributing factor to how adolescents begin to abuse substances in
environments that are of a lower socioeconomic status, by simply watching
others such as older teenagers and/or adults partake in these behaviors without
receiving any consequences. Biological and environmental factors increase risk
factors associated with adolescents who develop addictive disorders.
Addiction
Addiction is a mental disorder associated with functions of the
brain and is related to substance abuse because when an individual reaches a
point in which they are doing something and not able to stop then they have
developed an addiction (O'Driscoll, 2014) .
Adolescents that continuously abuse drugs and alcohol impact their
physical, psychological and cognitive development. Substance abuse can impact physical
development because adolescents are most likely not receiving the proper
nutrition needed to ensure the proper development. Psychological development is effected because
cognitive functions are impaired because of the effects that alcohol and drugs
have on the human brain. Substance abuse
alters human behavior which affects psychological development because
adolescents are engaging in risky behavior that could be detrimental to the
health of themselves and others.
Developmental Theories
Erik Erickson developed a theory on eight stages of human
development that can provide some insight on adolescent’s engaging in substance
abuse. The adolescent stage is identity
vs. role confusion and is focused on fidelity.
(Gould, 2015)
states that during this stage individuals are focused on what they do and often
struggle with finding their own identity, peer relations and determining their
place in society. The identity vs.
identity confusion stage can influence substance abuse because adolescents are
trying to fit in societal norms that often involve drugs and alcohol. Adolescents that partake in drug and alcohol
abuse to fit in often can develop an addiction because of the feelings that are
experienced when under the influence.
Intervention
Intervention can be identified as a method used to “produce an
effect or to interrupt or stop the progression of a disease” (Frey, 2015) such as substance
abuse and addiction. In efforts
community should join forces to develop intervention techniques. Early detection of possible drug and alcohol
abuse is the most effective because adolescents can be referred to treatment
programs to help combat those issues. A
change of environment has always been the most recommended solution; however,
it is not always the most feasible decision, therefore community efforts should
be made to deter adolescents from partaking in the use of drugs and alcohol. Drug
Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) is a proactive intervention technique that
was designed to teach students about making decisions that will help them lead
a safe and healthy life that is free from risky behaviors that involve
substance abuse.
Conclusion
Substance abuse is a serious problem in society and providing an
explanation on how adolescents develop substance problems can help with
developing intervention techniques that can assist with reducing the risk of
the urge to experiment with alcohol and drugs.
There are several biological and environmental factors that contribute
to adolescents developing addictive disorders and developmental theories have
provided information on the different stages and how they relate to how
substance abuse is dealt with.
Developing intervention techniques is the most appropriate and effective
method that can be used to reduce the risk of adolescent experimenting with
drug and alcohol abuse and it is important for everyone to be a part of the
efforts.
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