NCJ Number
180905
Journal
Drug and Alcohol Review Volume: 18 Issue: 4 Dated: December 1999 Pages: 453-475
Date Published
December 1999
Length
23 pages
Annotation
A literature review focused on the risk factors for drug abuse by adolescents and suggested implications for treatment.
Abstract
Results revealed that these risk factors include biological predisposition to drug abuse; personality treats that reflect a lack of social bonding; a history of low quality and consistency of family management, family communication, family relationships, and parental role-modeling; a history of being abused or neglected; and low socioeconomic status. Additional risk factors included emotional or psychiatric problems, significant stressors and/or inadequate coping skills and social supports, inadequate social skills, a history of associating with drug-using peers, rejection by prosocial peers due to poor social skills, a history of low commitment to education or failure at school, a history of antisocial behavior and juvenile delinquency, and early initiation to drug use. Models for conceptualizing drug abuse causes include Jessor's problem behavior syndrome and Rhodes and Jason's social stress model. Findings clearly indicate that the path to drug abuse is complex. Therefore, simple solutions to the problem are unlikely to be effective. Figure and 216 references (Author abstract modified)