Month: July 2020

Categories
Alcoholism

Teen Drinking Risk Factors and Consequences

The shift towards a new generation has greatly decreased underage drinking, not only in the United States but across the developed world, especially in Europe where per capita alcohol consumption for teens and adults typically goes above and beyond US levels.

Experts cite changes in technology rather than policy, particularly the accountability and unintentional social oversight fostered by social media, as being key in the development of completely different attitudes towards alcohol and drunkenness. Kids are much more aware of the consequences of losing control and doing something reckless on the Internet.

Furthermore, today’s teens are much more likely to stay in and drink at home (even before the pandemic), in a safer environment. This doesn’t mean teen drinking has been eliminated. Despite a reduction in binge drinking and associated deaths, underage drinking remains an issue all around the developed world, and over 4,300 teens still die in the US every year as a direct result of excessive underage drinking.

How Many Teens Drink?

Teenage drinking is measured not by lifetime drinks, but by drinking habits within the last thirty days. As such, an underage “non-drinker” is someone who has not imbibed in the last month. An estimated 30 percent of teens have consumed some level of alcohol in the last month, with 14 percent having binged at least once.

Binge drinking is defined as consuming more than a set amount of alcohol in a single drinking session. This is defined as having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 grams of alcohol per deciliter of blood (100ml), or about 5 drinks for males and 4 drinks for females in two hours. A “drink” is equivalent to about one beer, a glass of wine, or a single shot of liquor (roughly 14 grams of alcohol).

Binge drinking is considered a youth risk behavior, and although it is not indicative of alcohol use disorder (alcohol addiction or alcohol dependence), teens who binge more often are at greater risk of developing alcoholism and associated physical and mental health issues. It’s worth noting binge drinking is certainly not unique to underage populations and is significantly more common in ages 18-34. However, teens may be disproportionately affected by the risks associated with excessive drinking.

Family Influences on Teen Drinking Risk Factors

The risk factors playing into teen drinking are complex and numerous. Some are external factors, and some are internal factors. Internal factors typically refer to genetics and the effects of alcohol on the brain, which differ from person to person. Some people are more naturally resistant to alcohol’s effects than others, and some people are genetically more likely to become physically dependent on alcohol or develop a substance use problem.

If alcoholism “runs in the family”, so to speak, a teen is at greater risk of developing similar issues if they begin to drink frequently versus peers who don’t have a family history of alcohol use issues. Home environment also plays a role as an external factor in a teen’s drinking behavior. A healthy home environment, especially one where child and parent are close, and the parent monitors their child’s substance use and talks them earnestly about drug use, can be greatly protective.

On the other hand, when a parent-child relationship is heavily strained, teens are more likely to engage in risk behavior including drug use, including drinking. Early childhood trauma, particularly in the form of abuse, also correlates with a higher rate of alcohol use disorder in adult women, but not necessarily in men. This link is still being researched.

How Important Is Peer Pressure?

Many parents cite they feel they may have less of an impact on their children’s behavior than their peers as they enter middle and late adolescence. While the impact of peer pressure is important, it is equally important not to overstate the impact or focus entirely on reducing its effects without taking note of how other factors influence a teen’s likelihood to use alcohol early or excessively.

Parents do remain a child’s strongest influence on attitudes towards drinking, an influence that persists all the way into emerging adulthood. Feeling comfortable and relaxed around alcohol or seeing many of their peers drink can increase their likelihood of imbibing. This is called social modeling.

Furthermore, peer selection is also an important factor. Teens with a laxer attitude towards drinking and alcohol are more likely to choose friends who are similarly lax towards drinking, and are thus more likely to drink. The classic model of a teen feeling pressured to drink at a party is still an existing issue.

But the factors going into influencing a teen’s decision to start drinking early are far more complex than just the attitude of their friends, and their friends’ likelihood to compel them to drink. Previous attitudes towards alcohol, home environment, parental influence, and even genetic factors remain important factors as well.

Teen Drinking and Mental Health

Teens with a history of mental health problems are more likely to try, and even regularly use, alcohol and other substances, such as (but not limited to):

    • Anxiety disorders
    • Forms of depression
    • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
    • Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
    • And other conditions

Research has also established there is a significant unmet need for treatment that addresses both mental health and substance use disorder among teens. Thus, existing numbers may be hiding an even greater co-occurring rate between mental health issues and drug use among teens, as researchers have generally only been able to test for both among the treatment-seeking population. Current estimates note anywhere from 11 to 40 percent of teens who need mental health treatment services are currently receiving them.

Alcohol Availability and Advertising

The role of alcohol advertising and media in developing attitudes towards alcohol cannot be understated. While parents and peers likely play a majority role in developing a teen’s attitude towards alcohol use, television programs, movies, and both video and print ads all heavily contribute as well.

Many advertising companies and marketing departments know this, and target youth and teens via advertising appealing to adults and adolescents alike, utilizing humor, animal characters, and depictions of immediate gratification or higher social status in association with the product and/or brand.

Delay Teen Drinking

The consequences of underage drinking are numerous, ranging from long-term memory issues and brain damage to increased risk of stroke, heart disease, and various forms of cancer, as well as a greater risk of alcohol-related injuries and death from car crashes, burns, falls, drowning, and poisoning. Teens who drink regularly are more likely to engage in risky sexual intercourse, experience unwanted or unplanned sex, and struggle more at school.

Research also shows prolonging a teen’s introduction to alcohol is their best bet of reducing harm in the long-term. It’s unlikely to completely prevent alcohol use, due to alcohol’s ubiquitous nature and the current drinking rate among adults in the US. However, delaying a teen’s first drink can reduce alcohol’s deleterious effects on a teen’s mental and emotional development, as well as reduce the risk of alcohol use disorder and associated consequences.

Categories
Treatment

How Does Teen Addiction Treatment Work?

Addiction treatment usually involves several different therapies and modalities, but the vast majority of facilities have moved away from the traditional “one-size-fits-all” model and towards an individualized approach. Teen addiction treatment programs tend to place great importance on understanding the circumstances surrounding a teen’s addiction. Because most teens are not long-term users, and because adolescents differ from adults in behavior, thorough assessment and careful consideration of teen-specific treatment options is important.

The physical effects of drug use manifest differently in teens who have only been using drugs for a few months or years versus adults who have been struggling with addiction for decades. Teens who use drugs also tend to be struggling with a co-occurring mental health condition that may have tied into their addiction, further complicating treatment. However, while every teen’s treatment is unique, there are several elements that remain common between cases.

Understanding Addiction

Treating an addiction requires a holistic approach that determines how a person’s biopsychosocial profile feeds into their drug use, and how both short-term and long-term support will be necessary to help a teen remain drug free. This means:

    • Looking at a teen’s family history.
    • Taking into context previous instances of drug use and/or addiction.
    • Taking into account potential risk factors at home and/or at school.
    • Working with parents and educators to better understand how the addiction began, and how to treat it.

Substance-use disorders are distinct from behavioral addictions and refer specifically to disorders caused by and characterized by the repeated and compulsive use of addictive substances despite clear and recurring negative consequences, as defined by both the APA and the DSM-5. Addiction begins in the brain, and in the context of substance use, it is at least partially tied to a drug’s “addictiveness”.

Some drugs are addictive, and some aren’t, which is understood to be tied to how certain substances interact with pathways in the brain related to pleasure, motivation, and decision-making. Different drugs affect the brain via different drug mechanisms, many of which rely on the release or amplification of dopamine, one of many neurotransmitters responsible for reinforcing behavior.

What Does Teen Addiction Treatment Entail?

Treating an addiction often begins with abstinence, cutting into how recurring use reinforces a drug’s effects on the brain. Treatment providers work with teens and their parents to identify contributing factors, such as triggering events, recurring stressors or diagnosed mental health conditions.

From there, they work on providing patient-specific therapy (and medication, if needed) to combat these issues and provide teens with more constructive coping mechanisms. In cases where repeated relapses or a history of issues may make outpatient treatment difficult, teens and their parents can opt to seek more intensive care.

At this next level of care in residential or inpatient treatment, teens learn how to:

    • Better cope with elements in their life that might drive them to use again.
    • Seek support from peers and adults.
    • Foster behavior that can help them avoid relapsing while continuing their treatment outside of the program in the long-term.

Some teens do well with individual therapy, while others might respond better in a group. Experiential therapy techniques, and therapy aimed at helping teens hone interpersonal skills to combat feelings of isolation, can also have a positive effect on their overall mental state and likelihood of relapse.

Other important elements that are taken into consideration include helping a teen get through their schoolwork, promoting physical wellness via healthier habits (from better sleep and more exercise to a better understanding of diet), and more.

Some research also indicates that teens are less sensitive to withdrawal symptoms, and less likely to relapse because of drug-induced withdrawal problems. If they do relapse, many treatment programs work to help teens preempt and understand that relapsing can be part of treating addiction, as it helps identify a trigger point or stressor that should be avoided or further addressed in therapy.

Differences Between Adult and Teen Addiction Treatment

Teen addiction treatment differs insofar that addiction may present itself differently in teens than it does in adults. In many cases, treating adolescent cases of substance abuse requires not only an approach that focuses on reducing harmful compulsive use, but also identifies the factors contributing to the behavior such as high risk mental health issues, childhood trauma, and victimization.

Diagnostic criteria may differ for teens as well, as research points out teens may require a different or developmentally bound definition of hazardous use and have very individualized and non-standardized definitions of cravings. An individualized assessment is necessary in every case to differentiate between mild use and a substance abuse disorder and determine whether treatment required would entail an outpatient program or something more intensive.

Types of Teen Addiction Treatment Programs

Addiction treatment is generally split between inpatient and outpatient treatment. More distinctions are applied based on factors such as the focus of the treatment, length of the program, and more. A few examples of different types of treatment programs include:

Co-Ed and Gender-Specific Programs

Some teen addiction treatment programs allow teens of all genders to enroll, while gender-specific programs are tailored to each gender.

LGBTQ+ Programs

Non-conforming gender identities and sexual minorities experience a host of unique issues which can exacerbate or affect their substance use disorder. Treatment programs that cater to LGBTQ+ teens specifically may be more effective for them.

Residential/Inpatient, Intensive Outpatient or Outpatient Programs

Residential (inpatient) and outpatient programs utilize different levels of care to cater to teens requiring different kinds of treatment. Outpatient treatment will involve less contact with treatment providers but allows teens stay with their family and continue to go to school, while residential treatment offers a more intensive experience, particularly if teens are a danger to themselves or those around them.

Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP)

Partial hospitalization is a treatment type that is a step down from inpatient care but provides a more intensive care than most other outpatient programs. Teens are instructed to visit the outpatient facility on a more regular basis and follow a strict schedule.

Extended Care Programs

An extended care program serves an alternative for when teens require inpatient treatment for longer than the standard duration of roughly 30-60 days. Extended care programs are usually a minimum of three months.

Addiction vs. Dual Diagnosis Treatment Programs

Addiction treatment and dual diagnosis treatment (a diagnosis of both substance use disorder and a co-occurring mental disorder) are two distinct types of care. While both programs require a holistic approach, facilities that cater to cases of dual diagnosis more heavily rely on trained psychiatric staff members to provide critical mental healthcare.

The Importance of a Strong Support Network

Both in and out of treatment, teens must rely on a strong support network. Friends and family, especially family, play a role in helping a teen stay accountable and continue to work on their mental and physical health after treatment.

As adolescents are usually in daily contact with their parents or guardians, one of the most important protective factors against relapse is a strong, positive relationship between teens and their family. Teen addiction treatment can provide a recovery toolset to combat addiction, but it’s the continuum of care and support that plays the greater, long-term role.

Categories
Dual Diagnosis

Understanding Teen Co-Occurring Disorders

A co-occurring disorder refers to cases where a person has some form of anxiety disorder, mood disorder, personality disorder, or other mental conditions, coupled with a drinking problem or drug addiction. Also known as a dual diagnosis, teen co-occurring disorders does not refer to examples of polysubstance addiction (being addicted to more than one substance) or a string of mental health issues without signs of drug use or addiction (such as anxiety coupled with depression).

Teen co-occurring disorders represent a special issue because they are quite widespread and yet not effectively treated most of the time. Dealing with a dual diagnosis requires a very individualized approach as the symptoms of a mental disorder and compulsive drug use often complicate both diagnosis and treatment.

To understand why teen co-occurring disorders are so common, it’s important to discuss how drug use can affect a teen’s mental health, and how existing mental health issues affect a teen’s likelihood to rely on drugs.

Why Is Drug Use More Common Among Teens With Mental Disorders?

The numbers speak for themselves – as many as six in ten teens who have participated in substance use disorder treatment programs meet the criteria for at least one other mental health issue. Other data also supports the fact that substance use disorders (addiction) often co-occur with other mental disorders, including (but is not limited to):

    • Anxiety disorders
    • Major depression
    • Bipolar disorder
    • Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
    • Psychotic disorders
    • Schizophrenia
    • Personality disorders

It’s often a chicken or the egg situation, wherein it’s not always clear which came first – the drug use, or the mental health problems. They feed into each other. A teen struggling with symptoms of consistent low mood may find they care less when they’re drunk, or that drinking helps them take the edge off their anxiety.

However, alcohol hits back with stronger symptoms of depression and anxiety afterwards. This can feed a cycle that eventually leads to withdrawal issues and signs of addiction or problem drinking. The same goes for many other co-occurring disorders, where drug use at least partially starts as a coping mechanism and creates a vicious cycle. This can complicate treatment.

People who go into treatment for drug use may not benefit from the kind of therapy being offered at most drug rehab facilities in the absence of a trained and experienced psychiatrist. Any attempts to help them get sober and stay sober fail when they eventually begin to struggle with symptoms that their drinking or drug use was masking, in the short-term.

Furthermore, addiction can complicate treatments for many mental health issues. Withdrawal symptoms can make mental health symptoms worse. Certain drugs amplify and exacerbate symptoms of psychosis, anxiety, and low mood. And a treatment program that tries to focus on one but not the other may only serve to waste a teen’s time.

How Mental Disorders Interact With Common Drugs

Common drugs among teens include marijuana, alcohol, and subscription drugs, and drug use is often matched with ADHD, anxiety disorders, and depression. Substance use is especially high among teens with untreated ADHD, while teens who received medication for their ADHD were less likely than their peers to use drugs (even though ADHD medication can be addictive).

This may suggest that teens who lack access to treatment for their mental health issues are more likely to turn to drugs as an ineffective coping mechanism. Teens who experienced abuse or trauma are also far more likely to not only struggle with feelings of depression or trauma-related mental health issues, but also turn to substance abuse in their youth at a greater rate than their peers.

Among teens with depressive symptoms, many drugs may induce short-term feelings of euphoria and general content. However, when the high ends, they may be left feeling even more empty as a result. Some of the signs of a comorbidity between depression and substance use include feelings of helplessness, irritability, appetite changes, unexplained pains and aches, and frequent thoughts or mention of suicide.

In cases of anxiety, drugs like alcohol or marijuana can help soothe and reduce feelings of fear, worry, and paranoia. However, their effects in the long-term are disastrous to both the body and the mind. Marijuana with high levels of THC, which is the psychoactive compound in the drug, is tied to higher levels of anxiety, even though marijuana’s other compounds (like CBD) show potential benefits in treating mental health issues.

In teenagers with symptoms of psychosis, which include hallucinations or aberrant thoughts and false sensory experiences, drugs like marijuana can exacerbate or trigger symptoms. Other drugs may also affect their condition, as with as stimulants as well as depressives like alcohol can interact heavily with psychosis and related symptoms, such as paranoia, delirium, and angry outbursts.

The Challenges of Treating Teen Co-Occurring Disorders

One of the reasons why drug rehab facilities are not always well-equipped to deal with co-occurring disorders are because they require a holistic treatment approach. Holistic treatment simply means approaching a case from a perspective of treating the patient rather than the disorder.

Since co-occurring disorders are a combination of issues complicated by a variety of factors – such as a teen’s home life, school life, early experiences, family history, and more – they require a treatment approach wherein a team of professionals rather than a single professional work together to treat a teen’s physical and mental symptoms, addressing their condition behaviorally, socially, emotionally, and physically.

This can mean combining treatments or modalities to deal with a series of symptoms from different angles. Every case requires an individualized approach, and treatment takes time.

Seeking Help for a Dual Diagnosis

Some treatment facilities specialize in dual diagnosis/co-occurring disorders, providing inpatient and outpatient services to deal with both addiction and mental health issues, with a staff experienced in handling both.

If you or a loved one is struggling with a complicated mental health situation coupled with non-medical or recreational drug use, including heavy smoking or frequent drinking, then it may be important to find a healthcare provider specifically targeting teen co-occurring disorders.

Categories
Bullying

Text Bomb: What Parents Should Know About This Cyberbullying Sidekick

Roughly one in two American children has a smartphone at age 11, and that number skyrockets to 85-95 percent among older teens, of whom 45 percent say they spend time online “almost constantly”. It’s clear that kids and teens growing up today are far more entrenched in the digital world than their parents have ever been – and with that come a whole host of new and unique issues and avenues for interpersonal conflict and bullying.

While the rate at which children are bullied and bully each other has remained steady at about 20 percent, the nature of that bullying has shifted considerably in recent years towards far more online bullying or cyberbullying. Some experts have argued cyberbullying presents the potential for even more harm than face-to-face “traditional” bullying.

More than just a nasty message or a malicious comment, cyberbullying can take on the dangerous forms, including “doxxing” a child (making private information public) and “swatting”. The fact that many teens and youngsters often start cyberbullying others anonymously provides them with an emboldened feeling to say and do things they would never say or do in person.

Long before things escalate to such a degree, however, the myriad of ways in which teens bully one another through the Internet can leave long-lasting impressions and far-reaching repercussions, including self-harm and suicide. One common practice is the text bomb, which was much more prevalent during the days of teenage SMS and has since taken on different forms.

What Is a Text Bomb?

Text bombing can be defined as the practice of rendering a person’s phone unusable by way of mass texting hundreds and thousands of copies of the same message, often slowing down, or crashing their device. The contents of the text bomb don’t always matter but can include anything from a prank message to gibberish to encouraging suicide.

When sent via SMS, text bombing someone can incur major charges on their phone bill. When sent via instant messaging, the constant notification pop-ups can range from annoying to downright traumatizing (especially when the contents are tailored to target a teen’s insecurities or low self-esteem). Text bombing campaigns can end in an hour, or last for weeks.

They’re easy to launch and take very little effort – text bombing applications and websites are a dime a dozen, and whenever one dies, another two pop up to take its place. These applications utilize a dummy number that can’t be traced back to the real sender and send out anywhere from 50 to a few thousand messages over a given period of time with the sender’s intended message.

The other side of the coin features anti-spam and anti-text bomb applications which work to help prevent or block text bombing by:

    • Filtering incoming messages.
    • Blocking unknown senders.
    • Warning a user of a potential text bomb/spam campaign.

Why Would That Be Dangerous?

For those of us who grew up without any great attachment to our phones and the communicative possibilities of the modern-day smartphone, the idea of a text bomb presents itself as a minor inconvenience at best. But it’s an entirely different situation for a teen, especially one who has been bullied in the past, or is struggling with a series of insecurities. The answer to cyberbullying does not lie in just “getting up and walking away”.

Teens live in a day and age where their connection to the Internet is not just a luxury or a source of entertainment, but a considerable part of their social life and one of the few escapes they have from crippling isolation during a global pandemic. Many rely on their connectivity to do schoolwork, interact and communicate with friends, and continue their education. They cannot disconnect themselves from the web.

Furthermore, in cases where text bombing represents just a single facet of a larger bullying campaign, teens must grapple with not just the content of their tormenters’ messages, but with the impact those messages can have on their reputation. Despite the fact that information moves at the speed of light and we move past old stories almost as quickly, nothing is ever truly forgotten online, and the repercussions of being canceled or smeared can lead a teen to believe that their life has ended before it even had a chance to start.

Is Text Bombing Still Prevalent?

Thankfully, the trend of text bombing seems to have died down since it spiked heavily in 2011-2013, and again in 2018. Text bombing seemed to hit its stride around the same time that teenagers largely relied on text messaging (SMS) to communicate over any other form of communication, including talking face-to-face. Since the early 2010s, however, SMS messaging has slowly been on a decline while teens continue to communicate largely over:

    • WhatsApp
    • Messenger
    • Snapchat
    • Discord
    • Telegram

Nevertheless, many teens still rely on SMS to communicate with friends nearby, particularly in places where their mobile data plan doesn’t provide a reliable Internet connection. For iPhone users in particular, however, text bombing has seen the inclusion of a brand-new friend – the iMessage bug message, which has taken on a number of different forms, including the Telugu bug, the “effective power” message, and most recently, the iOS 13 text bomb.

These messages would typically freeze up or crash a user’s phone just by appearing in a notification or on any Apple-native text app, caused by the unique combination of characters from different scripts and select emojis. These bugs exploit a weakness in Apple’s instant messaging service, essentially overloading the phone’s memory and causing it to stop functioning properly or get stuck in a boot loop. Rebooting the phone to recovery is typically a reliable fix, but only works until the next time the message appears.

While Apple has been quick to fix these bugs, they’re sure to take on new forms in the future as developers and hobbyists continue to find issues with the app, or other apps. Similar text bombs have plagued Android users as well. Text bombs are just one form of cyberbullying, especially when the intent behind them isn’t to play a quick prank on a close friend, but to incessantly torment and emotionally torture another teen.

Categories
Mental Health

What Is Peer Pressure and Does It Lead to Addiction?

We know teens and adults alike are at a greater risk of developing an addiction if drug use begins in early adolescence. But why do children and teens use drugs, to begin with? A common reason given is peer pressure, but the role of peer pressure in the development of addiction is often overstated or misunderstood. The development of addiction in youth is more complex than one factor.

To point to peer pressure alone as a major cause of addiction in teens and young adults ignores a large host of other issues. While most forms of drug use have seen a decline among teens in recent years, some substances have grown increasingly popular, including marijuana and tobacco (via vaping), signaling it’s still important for parents to educate themselves on the effects of drug use, as well as hinting at a continued need to better understand how and why kids get addicted to drugs.

Defining Peer Pressure

Human behavior, as complex as it is, can be boiled down to the product of internal and external factors. These range from innate factors playing a role in the development of our personalities and the emotions we display, to the countless ways in which our experiences and the actions of others imprint on us.

Peer pressure is one of many external factors that have an impact on how we think and act. Peer pressure can refer to both positive and negative influences; negative influences lead to the development of destructive and maladaptive behaviors, while positive influences lead to productive and healthy behaviors.

Peer pressure, or peer influence, only accounts for the influence our social group might hold over us. Peer pressure represents a greater influence among teens than adults, as teens are more motivated to conform to their friends and peers, and less likely to heed the risks associated with potentially dangerous activities, including recreational drug use.

However, research on the topic is conflicting. Studies aiming to determine the effect of peer influence on substance abuse and addiction find different results across sample sizes and age groups, ranging from no support for peer pressure as a significant factor in the development of substance abuse to peer pressure being just one among a variety of social factors for teens using drugs.

Older children, especially teens, are less likely to try drugs due to peer pressure and more likely to choose to use drugs out of their own volition, to satisfy boredom or curiosity, and may select their peers accordingly. A teen’s peer choices play a role in how their personality develops, and what actions they take when faced with the choice to accept or decline drugs. But attention should be paid more to a teen’s home environment and other factors as well.

Parental Influence and Protective Factors

While teens and children spend a lot of time among their peers, family remains a more influential factor in the development of substance use habits. Parents and the quality of their relationship with their children are a greater influence on youth, and teens who are influenced more by their peers than their parents were more likely to use drugs regularly.

Furthermore, among adults with a history of drug use, poor parental relationships, unhappy childhoods, harsh physical punishment, and lack of parental concern are common factors. Healthy parental relationships, on the other hand, correlated with better outcomes and were found to be a significant factor, particularly if parents displayed several effective parenting strategies including:

    • Parental monitoring
    • Parental modeling
    • Parental support
    • Good communication
    • Parental involvement
    • Parent-child relationship quality

This does not mean parents play a greater role in their child’s behavior than their peers do in every single case. In most cases, both play a significant role and may influence a teen’s decision to try drugs or avoid them. Parental disapproval of drug use and peer selection also represents as protective factors, and it’s important to note peer pressure is not always overt, but may be subtle, i.e. teens are more likely to respond to trying a drug out if they see everyone else doing it but aren’t pressured into doing so directly.

Other Factors Are Just as Important

Peer and parental influences only represent a fraction of the factors contributing to drug use. Other important external factors remain just as important, including:

Internal factors include co-occurring mental health conditions, a genetic predisposition towards a specific substance (as teens are more sensitive to a drug if they have a family history of addiction to said drug), and more. The treatment of addiction often requires a thorough understanding of the factors that influenced and continue to impact an individual’s history of drug use.

While drugs themselves encourage repeated use, certain factors make someone more or less likely to relapse after treatment or continue to struggle with addiction. Support networks and treatment plans must be selected and built individually based on these factors as well, as teens affected by certain factors are more likely to respond to one treatment plan than another.

Some of the things parents can do to help reduce their teen’s risk of using drugs include:

    • Addressing the topic of drugs with a nuanced, balanced, and information-rich approach, avoiding fearmongering or outdated terminology.
    • Encouraging your child to call you and ask for a ride home (judgment-free) if they ever find themselves pressured to use drugs at an event.
    • Staying involved in a teen’s life, showing interest for their school and personal activities, relationships with peers, friendships, career interests, and more.
    • Providing a warm and supportive environment at home, alongside discipline and accountability.

While peer pressure can play a role in how teens develop drug habits, it is far from the only factor, and may often not be the most significant factor in many cases.

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