ADOLESCENT DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE 2
Abstract
This analysis paper will describe two peer-related characteristics, two family-related
characteristics, and two individual characteristics to the relation of drug and alcohol use in
adolescents, and how environmental and social factors correlate with drug and alcohol use.
Within this paper, I will show the legal and ethical issues regarding adolescent drug and alcohol
usage. I will touch on the physiological and psychosocial consequences of alcohol and drug use
among adolescents. The paper will give a breakdown of different drug choices among
adolescents, as well as information about the most leading cause of morbidity and mortality.
Some adolescent has select settings where they do their drugs or drink alcohol, which can
become a higher risk for escalation of drug and alcohol use, along with behavior problems.
ADOLESCENT DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE 3
Family and peer influences, individual behavior, and personality characteristics
consistently relate to child and adolescent substance use and eventual abuse. Alcohol and drug
use among U.S. children and adolescents continues to be a serious behavioral, social, and health
problem (McWhirter et al., 2017). Alcohol and drug use among adolescence denotes a cause-
and-effect relationship, and it usually starts with familial influence. Parents who are drinkers,
either heavy or in moderation, will give their child a sip of what they are drinking, or agree to let
their child drink with the stipulation that they only do it within the house. These actions are
carried out by parents, not knowing or thinking that this can be the start of the cause of
adolescent alcohol use. What parents forget to realize is that their children watch and see
everything they are doing.
If their parents are drinking, the child will most likely start drinking; if their parents are
smoking, the child is more likely to start smoking; and if their parents are doing drugs, the child
will most likely start doing drugs. If a person begins drinking before age 15, a person is 4 times
more likely to develop alcohol dependency than if drinking starts at 20 years of age (McWhirter,
et al., 2017). This information becomes relevant when taking into account certain parenting
styles that allow underage drinking: the aforementioned “safe space” that parents attempt to
provide in order to teach moderation. The family environment has a role among adolescent
alcohol and drug use, such as living in poverty, single-parent homes, abusive parents, neglect,
domestic violence, and homes with a lack of love and support. Inversely, an environment where
children feel safe enough to try anything they’re parents believe is safer at home is also an at-risk
environment. These variables can cause adolescents to become high-risk to drug and alcohol use
and abuse. Alcohol and drug abuse will develop behavior issues, emotional issues, and health
problems for the adolescent and his or her family members and friends.
ADOLESCENT DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE 4
Alcohol is the most common drug abused by both adolescents and adults alike, and a
leading cause of morbidity and mortality among adolescents ages 15 to 19. Although the legal
age for alcohol consumption is 21 in the US, 80% of twelfth graders report alcohol use, and
nearly one-third admit to heavy drinking five or more drinks every two weeks. Fifty percent of
eighth-graders report alcohol use, with some having started as early as the sixth grade (Nanda,
S., & Konnur, N. 2006). 1 in 4 high school students drank alcohol before the age of 13, and high
school students are drinking earlier in age with each passing year (Clark, C., Clinton, T., &
Straub, J. 2010).
An adolescent can be influenced by the environment they are in and what is going on
around them. Traumatic events, poor neighborhoods, adverse school conditions, and negative
peer influences also contribute to increased use of substances and subsequent aggression.
Consistent with such environmental adversity, drug use is typically heavier among lower
socioeconomic groups. Poorer families experience far more hardship and thus lead to
psychological escapism through perception-altering substances. Drug use is also reinforced
through the media, which “inundate the market with images of drug use as a helpful solution to
all physical complaints and psychological problems” (McWhirter et al., 2017). In popular TV
shows, alcohol use is normalized and is seen as an enhancer to positive experiences, without a
buffer to expose the negative consequences of such indulgent activity. Alcohol is portrayed as
necessary to lead the “good life.” Glamorous lifestyles are seemingly enhanced by alcohol and
illegal drug use, and are portrayed as somewhat essential to experiencing the full spectrum of
life’s offerings. These messages of drug acceptability further communicate to young people the
usefulness of drugs as part of mainstream U.S. culture (McWhirter et al., 2017).
ADOLESCENT DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE 5
Another influence on adolescent substance use is peer influences. If family members are
not drug users, influence can stem from the peers that an individual surrounds his/her-self with.
Besides alcohol, peers will either indirectly or actively influence adolescents with: inhalant drugs
such as marijuana, cocaine, crystal meth; stimulants such as methylphenidate, heroin, and
opiates; ecstasy, GHB, hallucinogens, phencyclidine (PCP), and anabolic steroids. Participation
in highly competitive organized sports may contribute to the misuse of performance-enhancing
drugs such as anabolic steroids (Nanda, S., & Konnur, N. 2006). Adolescents in school normally
get pressure from other classmates to take some form of drugs or alcohol to make them fit in
with the crew or to have a hazing party or just to socializes together. peers who endorse pro-
alcohol attitudes, model alcohol use, provide drinking opportunities and exert pressure has a
particularly strong impact. Peer cluster theory suggests that “the dominant influences on an
adolescent’s drug use and other problem behaviors are the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of the
young person’s immediate peers” (McWhirter, et al., 2017).
At this stage in their life, adolescents are growing and trying to find out who they are,
and if he or she has low self-esteem it becomes easier to be influenced by others. When
adolescents do not get the love, support, attention, affection, and guidance from those in the
home then they will look for it outside of the home. This adds more emotional problems to him
or her. From peer influence to peer pressure to self-validation, so many things contribute to how
an adolescent becomes harmful to themselves by drinking or doing drugs anywhere they can.
One of the few studies that examined settings of substance use in the United States found that
among younger teens between age 13, most alcohol uses occurred in the home, whereas older
teens reported that a greater proportion of their alcohol use occurred in the peer settings
(Hussong, A., 2000).
ADOLESCENT DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE 6
When adolescent begins to act out seeking attention from his or her parents and is not
receiving it they will start self-medicating themselves form their pain and hurt. This is an
individual characteristic of an adolescent seeking out drugs and alcohol to soothe their pain
temporarily. Because of it being a temporary fix for their problems, adolescents will continue to
drink and take drugs as a way to cope. Their coping skills are severely damaged, seeing that they
have not developed or were not taught how to cope with stress or other issues in their lives by
those around them. Adolescents with poor coping skills are vulnerable to intense emotional pain;
drug use can become relief-seeking behavior aimed at alleviating both internal problems such as
stress, depression, or feelings of low self-worth and external problems like family discord and
violence (McWhirter et al., 2017). Another individual characteristic is rebelliousness against
his/her parents. Disobedience stemmed from unpleasant home lives can make them vulnerable to
the image of drinking or doing drugs as a way to rebelling against their parents.
Adolescent rebelliousness can lead to adolescent impulsiveness, which is another
individual characteristic that contributes to substance abuse. Impulsivity can be defined as “the
tendency to act prematurely, with little forethought for the consequences of one’s behavior”
(McWhirter et al., 2017). Acting impulsively can lead to problems such as behavior problems in
public (which can lead them to jail or harm to them by another person). They can be pimped out,
or sold into human trafficking rings, or they can overdose on drugs and perish, contributing to
the mortality rate of such behavior. Either way, adolescent drug and alcohol use is harmful to
adolescents and their families.
ADOLESCENT DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE 7
References
Clark, C., Clinton, T. & Straub, J. (2010). The Quick-Reference Guide to Counseling Teenagers.
Bakers Book Publishing Group. Grand Rapids, MI
Fagan, A. A., & Najman, J. M. (2005). The relative contributions of parental
and sibling substance use to adolescent tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use. Journal of
Drug Issues, 35(4), 869-883.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1177/002204260503500410
Hussong, A.M. The Settings of Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Use. Journal of Youth and
Adolescence 29, 107–119 (2000). https://doi-
org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1023/A:1005177306699
McWhirter, A., McWhirter, B., McWhirter, E., & McWhirter, J. (2017). At-Risk Youth: A
comprehensive response for counselors, teachers, psychologists, and human service
professionals. (6th ed). Cengage Learning www.cengage.com Boston, MA
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