What causes adolescent substance abuse?
There is no single cause of adolescent drug problems. Drug abuse develops over time; it does not start as full-blown abuse or addiction. There are different pathways or routes to the development of a teen’s drug problems. Some of the factors that may place teens at risk for developing drug problems include: • insufficient parental supervision and monitoring; • lack of communication and interaction between parents and kids; • poorly defined and poorly communicated rules and expectations against drug use; • inconsistent and excessively severe discipline; • family conflict; • favorable parental attitudes toward adolescent alcohol and drug use, and parental alcoholism or drug use. It is important to also pay attention to individual risk factors. These include: • high sensation seeking; • impulsiveness; • psychological distress; • difficulty maintaining emotional stability; • perceptions of extensive use by peers; and • perceived low harmfulness to use.
