Peer-Related Variables: Drugs And Alcohol Use

Everyday thousands of teenagers are peer pressured into trying drugs or alcohol. Which can lead to early addiction, in a critical time in a teen's life. Many teens try drugs or alcohol to boost their social status.

Adolescence is a time where adolescents grow and mature at a rapid rate. It is also a time where adolescents are more vulnerable to taking risks, such as using and becoming addicted to illegal substances, due to raging hormones. Whether or not an adolescent chooses to engage in drug use and abuse depends on their home environment and those they choose to associate themselves with. Adolescents are confronted with an enormous amount of pressure to participate in risky behaviors by their peers. According to Broderick and Blewitt (2015), “risky behaviors are behaviors that constitute a departure from socially accepted norms or behaviors that pose a threat to the well-being of individuals or groups” (p. 389). One such risky behavior is drug use and addiction. Some adolescents use cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and prescription drugs in order to get “high”. Adolescents who engage in drug use are likely to become addicted, and thus, their addiction will negatively affect their brain development.

Teenage drug abuse is an issue that can result from a wide variety of social influences, stressful events, and mental disorders. Drug abuse among adolescents is a troubling issue because it decreases focus, increases the chance of consistency in behavior during adulthood, increases the chances of developing emotional issues, permanently damages the brain, and damages tissues in every system that can lead to death. Previous scientific research has identified that social factors, including the media and peers, play an important role in psychological development and impact the adolescent's decision to start experimenting with substances (Botvin 888). Appropriate solutions for the teenage drug abuse issue already exist, but the only remaining

When an individual believes, and expects, to have positive effects from a certain drug (e.g., drinking alcohol to reduce stress and anxiety), the likelihood that the individual will abuse the drug is extremely high. Sociocultural factors also play a vital role in how frequently a substance is used, with family and friends being the most influential. A broken family home (e.g., marital problems, parent/sibling alcohol or drug use, and legal or psychiatric problems) can have a tremendous negative effect on a child and the decisions they make. A lack of emotional support from parents is found to increase drug use, whereas the lack of parental monitoring if often associated with higher drug use (Kring, 2014). The idea of being “popular” and having a ton of friends seems to be a common goal for the majority of adolescents and young adults. Social influence is explained by the fact that having peers who drink, influences drinking behavior; however, it is also known that individuals will choose friends with drinking patterns similar to their own. While growing up, most of us have always been told to choose our friends wisely; however, they neglected to tell us how difficult this can be.

The majority of teens with substance abuse problems began using drugs or alcohol as a result of peer pressure”(“Peer

Per Alati, Baker, Betts, Connor, Little, Sanson, and Olsson (2014), heavy parental alcohol consumption has played a role in early alcohol consumption of adolescents between twelve and fifteen years old. Mothers who drink heavily when their children are young also contribute to the development of an alcohol disorder in male adolescents and young adults (Alati et al, 2014). Parental use and abuse of drugs and alcohol is associated with adolescents as young as twelve years of age experimenting with drugs and alcohol (Sittner, 2015). Parents who use drugs and alcohol demonstrate to their children that drug and alcohol use is normal and acceptable. Thus, adolescents believe there is nothing wrong with using drugs and alcohol because their parents are using drugs and alcohol. In addition to parental substance use contributing to adolescent substance use, poor parent-child relationships also play a

Road to Recovery (YouTube, 2006) shows friends (peers) were also a major infliuence on teens sober desisions and the Adolescent Addict (HBO, 2015) contributes family as major influeince on teens sobriety desicions. Although

Substance use disorder, misuse, and dependence are among the most prevalent causes of adolescent morbidity and mortality in the United States (Brannigan, Schackman, Falco, & Millman, 2004; Newcomb and Bentler, 1988a; Sussman, Dent, and Galaif, 1997). Substances of all types are being widely used or misused by teens and emerging adults in the United States (Johnston et al., 2004). Adolescent substance misusers experience numerous social, economic, physical, and legal consequences, for example, truncated development (Newcomb and Bentler, 1988b). Substance use–related disorders are associated with such problems as poor academic performance, job instability, teen pregnancy, and the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. Crimes such as stealing, vandalism, and violence are associated with “heavy drug use” in adolescence. Adverse immediate consequences occur (e.g., overdoses and accidents). Also, drug-using youths are more likely to develop disorganized thinking and unusual beliefs that may interfere with problem-solving abilities and emotional functioning and may lead to greater social isolation and depression (Sussman and Ames, 2001), though the prevalence of dysfunctional thinking is not known. Substance dependent adolescents endure consequences of additional problems such as drug tolerance effects, withdrawal symptoms, and preoccupation with using a drug to the exclusion of other activities.

In a study done by the University of Michigan in 2016 it showed that 7.3 percent of 8th graders used alcohol. In an article, “Teens and Peer Pressure,” the writer Joanne Barker talks about how many of the teens using alcohol were around friends who drank. These two pieces of evidence shows how peer pressure can affect decisions which may also affect someone's identity. This doesn't just mean that all peer pressure happens with alcohol. Peer pressure can be used in anything.

indirect: peers provide social opportunities to engage in substance abuse, and peers shape attitudes toward

What are some of the contributing factors? Some scientists believe that certain individuals are at greater risk of drug dependence because of psychological factors, including difficulty controlling impulses, lack of values in drug use, low self-esteem, peer pressure, and depression. Risk-taking also increases between childhood and adolescence as a result of changes around the time of puberty in the brain’s socio-emotional system leading to increased reward-seeking, especially in the presence of peers. (3) Younger people also believe that they will not lose control if they use drugs. Genetics can also contribute to the increased likelihood that an individual will abuse drugs.

Parental and peer influence plays an important role in adolescent substance abuse. Peer pressure can influence each adolescent either indirectly or directly. Peer pressure is the most frequently discussed risk factor. Peer substance abuse is the leading cause of adolescent substance abuse. Parental influence can be positive or negative. They can have a significant influence on adolescents. Parents can influence their kids

Hyshka (2013) clears this up, “This understanding situates responsibility and blame for substance use on adolescent drug users and ignores the agency of adolescents to select their own peers and choose to use or abstain from drugs (Coggans & Mckellar, 1994 ; Rhodes et al., 2003 )” (p. 112) and she differentiates peers from the ‘risk environment’, which is the social or physical surrounding that may increase the individual decision to use or abstain from substance use (Hyshka, 2013, p. 112). The present social factor that pressures youth in the use of cannabis is the socially accepted norms and lifestyles. (Hyshka, 2013, p. 112).

Every problem has a beginning, where the domino effect starts. In most cases people get started drinking not because they like it, but because it is illegal and it gives them a chance to rebel. The so-called “rebel” becomes bored of drinking alone and eventually seeks “company” when they are drinking. The only catch is that the “rebel” can not be the only one drinking so the “company” has to drink. This is where the problem with peer pressure and teenage drinking begins and the first domino starts the chain reaction. There are two types of peer pressure. There is direct peer pressure where a subject’s peers actually force him into having a drink. There is also indirect peer pressure where the subject enters a setting and his peers are drinking so he decides to have a drink to fit in with the rest of his peers (Articles-Teenage Drinking 2). Surveys show that alcohol abuse is related to teenage activities such as going on dates and going to parties (Teenage Alcohol Misuse 2).

On their First step, teenagers may grow up in family who use alcohol, so it is influence from family to be the causes of drinking alcohol in teens. Teenagers learn that drinking is a part of normal everyday life, For instance, when they see it in their family all the time, they think it is appropriate to drink alcohol because It is easy for them to find alcohol in their house. On the other hand, they drink alcohol because of peer pressure. By the teenage years, peers are the most influential group as teenagers navigate finding an identity and figuring out the roles that they play. Unfortunately, teenagers who choose the wrong peer groups can find themselves getting into a lot of trouble as using alcohol .When they choose peers who drink alcohol, they would like their friends to accept them by drink it as well. Sometimes, their friends encourage them to drink, so they cannot decline drinking from fiend’s inducement to drink alcohol despite they do not want to