The Negative Impact Of Substance Abuse On Adolescents

In 2009, more than eight million children in the United States resided in households where their primary caregiver was dependent on substance use (HHS, 2009). Substance Use disorder (SA) is defined as exhibiting one or more of the four criteria while consuming alcohol or illicit drugs: failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home, situations in which it is physically hazardous, situations persistent substance-related legal problems, social or interpersonal problems caused by or exacerbated by the effects of the substance (American Psychiatric Association, 2005). One out of four children affected by SA will develop psychological, physical, and social health complications, and a tenth

Along with illegal behavior often a substance abuser will find themselves as homeless, spending their paychecks on their habits of using substances (Tracy, 2005). Children of abusers are affected by both possessing negative role models that set the example that drug use is not wrong and sometimes the children are placed into the care of the community because of neglect and abuse by the substance user (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Adolescent and School Health [CDC], 2009). Other medical, social, and economic issues also are being experienced from substance abuse and use.

substance it can lead to impairment or distress in many different ways such as, “recurrent substance use resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home, recurrent substance use in situations in which it is physically hazardous, recurrent substance-related legal problems, continued substance use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of the substance” (Susic, 2007). According to the Foster Care Club, there are precisely 415,129 children who are in the foster care system. Since there are so many children in the system, it is hard to diagnose every child who is abusing substances. When a foster parent brings a child into their home, it is hard to tell that they are abusing substances because the family may think they are just trying to adapt to their new environment. The family might also think that the child is acting out because they do not want to be in the system and just want to be with their actual parents.

When a child is in an environment, in which drug abuse or alcoholism takes place he or she has an increased risk of becoming an alcoholic or substance abuser himself or herself. In this type of environment the child may also be forced to use the substances by the addicted abusing parents. The parents who use drugs and alcohol to cope with their lives will teach their children to cope with their lives the same way. This may cause the child to be taken out of a home and put into a foster care, or may be an institution. “Statistics show that 43 percent of adult Americans have been exposed to alcoholism and drug addiction in their families” (NCA, 2009).

The adolescent phase of life is a vital time of developmental sensitivity. Due to such vulnerability at this stage, substance use amongst this demographic has been linked to detrimental short-term and long-term mental health outcomes. In this essay, the mentioned articles generally refer to substance use as smoking tobacco, alcohol consumption and any other illegal drug use including stimulants, hallucinogens, opioids, etc. Evidence-based research has reinforced the correlation of substance use among adolescents and the behavioral, social, and educational consequences associated with this use (Springer et al. 2004). These negative outcomes are acknowledged as a threat to public health. McGorry and Purcell (2009) indicate that social networks

When discussing Early onset usage of drugs/alcohol and how it is one of the best predictors of adolescent/adult drug substance abuse, we must go in deeper to the rising conflict behind why early adolescents are turning to drugs at a young age. The sayings such as "monkey see, monkey do" proclaim we are the victims to our own demise. If we are brought up in what society deems a troubled home, we are more likely to turn to drugs and alcohol. Contributing factors to this example can be seen as it being the way the individuals was taught to deal with situations through witnessing their family members abuse substance. In some cases, Children can get introduced to substance from outside factors like family friends, babysitters, etc. One thing is for sure society fails to meet the requirements of

During adolescents the individual moves from elementary school to junior high school or middles school. This is a process that brings with it stage-specific developmental demands. The onset of puberty itself is a stressor that can contribute to substance use disorders. Unfortunately, one of the challenges that adolescents will face is the question whether to use or abstain from alcohol and illicit drugs (Doweiko, 2015, p. 279). Adolescence is the developmental period of highest risk for the onset of problematic alcohol and other drug use. Some experimentation with alcohol may be considered normal during adolescence: however, people who engage in binge drinking or who have developed alcohol use disorders typically also engage in other drug use(Thatcher and Clark, 2008) .

Children and adolescents involved in families where alcohol and/or drug use are pronounced in the household are now viewed as being at-risk for developing drug dependency themselves, which clearly puts this issue in a whole different light despite the fact that drug dependency alone is already an epidemic in its own. Moreover, those children and adolescents growing up in a household where they’re surrounded by drugs and alcohol are unlikely to be receiving adequate care for their learning and developing needs, as the parent–or parents–are unable to sufficiently carry out the role of a parent. Consequently, they tend to grow up in an unstable and volatile environment where they have to learn to fend for themselves, all awhile witnessing the devastating effects that drugs implement on their parents; most of which they’re

Substance abuse is one of the major challenges facing the world today. It has been a major concern because much of those abusing the drugs are students in learning institutions and this may have an influence on their academic performance or life changing events in their life. In this article, I discussed how substance abuse can affect a teen in many ways. Not only at school, but also their home life and friendships. A teenager can be affected by peer pressure when encountering substance abuse. Along with large degrees of substance abuse, small degrees also can have a great impact on your life in negative ways. A person who is struggling with substance abuse is always thinking about “when to take drugs” and “how to buy drugs.” Their mind is

Family influence is another important factor to consider when looking at adolescent substance abuse. Parenting practices should be carefully constructed and conflict should be avoided at all costs. Harsh disciplinary action can lead to retaliation and further encourage adolescents to abuse various substances. On the contrary, poor parental monitoring and a lack of family bonding can lead to the adolescent looking for an escape, which in this case, would be substance abuse (1). As nurses, it’s important that we intervene before the adolescent becomes dependent on any selected substance. “Appropriate, early intervention may restore the normal course of an abnormal trajectory and reduce the likelihood of developing a substance use disorder (SUD) later in life” (2). Teaching adolescents about the negative effects of substance abuse can prevent initiation, dependency, and literally save their life. In this paper, I’ll develop a teaching plan for adolescents to discourage substance abuse. I’ll begin by further identifying the target population and the prevalence of the issue. I’ll then use the nursing process (Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation) to formulate this plan for the target audience, relying heavily on effective teaching styles for the chosen age group.

Monique, interesting reply addiction in the family can cause both short term and long term harmful affects .You mentioned the harsh affects of substance abuse often have on youngsters; which in my opinion can be very devastating on a child/children. I have seen it recently firsthand. Your post reminds me of a case that was bought before the judge where a young lady had been using a heavy substance for quite some time now and had 3 small children ages 3-1 years of age. Some one had reported how the Mom often left the children home unattended quite often: roaming the neighbor hood, in need of food and unkempt. The case was bought before the judge due reckless behavior. The women was taken away by authorities and her 3 small children given over to child protective services due to neglect, until they could find relatives to take them in for a few months or until the mother agreed to straighten out her life.

The purpose of this brief overview is to outline the different effects of drugs and alcohol on youths and their families. Addictions have become a problem for many households. Many parents don’t realize that the youth has an addiction problem until the problem has gotten out of control and to the point that family is in a crisis. Parents may feel as if it's their fault and the addition has torn the family apart. In the study, it reviews how parents seek to understand and gain experience on how to cope with substance abuse issues emerging with their adolescence.

It is legal in the United States to consume alcohol once a person reaches twenty-one years of age. However, that does not necessarily mean that a person doesn’t drink at all before it is legal for them. In fact, alcohol is the most commonly abused substance by adolescents (Mason and Spoth 2012; Schwinn and Schinke 2014), and use has been on the rise in the past decades. Alcohol use has been shown to increase with age, typically with it peaking during late adolescents (Poulin and Denault 2012). It begins with early onset, usually before age thirteen. This can develop into problem drinking and eventually alcohol abuse as early as age twenty-one (Mason and Spoth 2012).

Teenage drug and alcohol abuse is becoming a major problem in the United States. Abuse of illicit substances eventually leads to an addiction. Drug and alcohol addiction is a disease, and it is contagious. It does not spread through germs; it spreads through families, schools, and communities. There are two youth prevention programs that try to exceed at decreasing the drug and alcohol abuse in teenagers. They are the D.A.R.E. program and the Serenity House based out of Texas.

By completing this paper and actually doing fieldwork on this research, I hope it will broaden my understanding of drug users, its effects on the body and society and why it is in such high demand.