Prevention Strategies and Causes of Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Strategies - Essay Example

? Prevention Strategies and Causes of Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Strategies Introduction Raising teenagers and being a teenager has proved to be quite a challenge due to the involved unique concerns and needs as argued by the Department of Health, DoH (2001). Among the social problems facing this category of people include substance abuse, also referred to as drug abuse which McKim (2003) defines as maladaptive pattern following consumption of a drug considered not to be dependent. These encompass psychoactive drugs and substances that alter one’s moods and cause impulsivity. Britain has widespread adolescent abuse of alcohol, tobacco and other illegal drugs according to a research conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD (Chapman, 2009). McArdle (2009), Stoddard (2009) and the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, UNODOCCP (2002) document alcohol as the major drug being abused by adolescents in the UK. These sources attribute this to the wide gap between parents and the community on one hand and adolescents on the other. Abuse of substances such as alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and inhalants has caused adolescents to suffer from diminished health, reduced development opportunities and compromised performance in school apart from increasing health costs, crime, accidents and violence (Fawcett et al., 2008; McCrystal et al., 2007). Parrot et al. (2004) observed that alcohol intake leads to antisocial behaviours and increased aggression which Gilvary (2003) and Petry (2006) argue draws concern from clinicians, politicians, families and researchers. To avoid such effects, effective prevention strategies should be adopted with deterrent messages being repeated by multiple messengers – peers, parents, the community and school – from childhood through adolescence. Canning et al. (2004) categorises such approaches into two; universal approach aimed at reaching everyone and targeted approach focused on a sub-group considered to be high risk. National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIDA (2003) further categorises the approaches into three: universal, applicable to everyone; selective, applied to target teens and children; and indicted, aimed at youth abusing drugs. This paper will analyse some of the prevention approaches applied in the targeted or selective approach which aims at preventing substance abuse among the adolescents. These approaches will direct the causes of adolescent substance abuse with support from various research studies. Substance abuse prevention programs have been widely applied in the UK where school and community based approaches have been combined for increased efficiency in adolescent substance abuse prevention programs (Braverman, 2001; Carboni, 2007; Christian, 2007). According to Sikes (2010), the modern day society expects schools to be actively involved in not only academic development but also in emotional, moral, physical, social and intellectual development of students. Young people are known to spend most of their time in school hence the effectiveness of using schools as effective platforms in preventive education. Liddle and Rowe (2006) and Wincup, Buckland and Bayliss (2003) present an interesting perspective noting that students would be generally a captive audience in schools and would not ignore any communication through such programs. But such approaches call for the involvement of the community to further boost effectiveness which Fawcett et al. (2008) refers to community coalitions. Strategic community leaders from law enforcement agencies, businesses, religious organisations and schools would share problems facing the young people in the community and formulate appropriate solutions on how to educate adolescents on the need to keep off drinking, smoking and using illegal drugs (Cuijpers, 2003; McGillicuddy et al., 2009; Winters et al., 2000). This approach reflects the multifaceted cause of substance abuse where the influence could come from either the school or the community or both environments. Barnes et al. (2009), Christian (2007) and NIDA (2003) note that during adolescence, peer pressure becomes a critical risk factor that could cause most adolescents to indulge in substance abuse hence the need for social bonds that would instil confidence in morality. NIDA (2003) documents a research by Trager that tested the impact that drug education films had on adolescents. The results indicated that 10% of the tested sample shared the information obtained from the films with their parents as compared to 38% who discussed with their peers. Despite the results presenting anticipated results, self-selection among sample groups could be a misgiving as peers free with each other could form a group that escalated the percentage of peer-to-peer discussions. McArdle (2009) proposed the development and implementation of substance abuse curriculum in schools to empower students with knowledge on substance abuse as lack of knowledge on substance abuse increases the risk of adolescent substance abuse. Christian (2007) documents a research on 1,500 children from junior and middle schools – adolescents - and how they got influenced to smoke cigarettes and marijuana and take alcohol. Results from this study indicated that students who had high skills on refusal assertiveness were less likely to be coerced into substance abuse coupled with good skills in making decisions. The research was controlled for gender, ethnicity, age and family structure. There have been researchers that oppose the effectiveness of short term educational strategies in having long term positive impacts. NIDA (2010) and McArdle (2004) argue that one risk factor in adolescent substance abuse is lack of attachment and continuous nurturing. The lack of establishment of strong bonds between parents or caregivers and their children increases the risk of adolescent substance abuse (Petry, 2006). Lack of this connectivity causes adolescents to seek guidance and attention from external sources that could mislead them into substance abuse. To counter this deficiency, Braverman (2001) proposes programs with more contextual approaches that would build the overall social competence among adolescents. This would be imparted through life skills training that deter adolescents from abusing drugs and projects that focus on varied community and individual factors in addressing teen drinking. The recent prevention programs aimed at combating drug abuse among adolescents have been focussed on providing them with the necessary social skills which would enable them resist such influences (Thatcher, Cornelius & Clark, 2005). This approach has been supported by Christian (2007), DoH (2001) and Velleman, Templeton and Copello (2005) who advocate for teachers’ in-service trainings, parenting classes for parents and children’s social competence trainings. The foci of such programs should be broad enough to address all issues involved in overall adolescent development, which is the foundation for resilience theory according to Petri, Bunn and Byrne (2006). Furthermore, the theory suggests the incorporation of community and interpersonal support with Skiba, Monroe and Wodarski advocating for model shift from direct to indirect influence where young people would be modelled socially. Sikes et al. (2010) have pointed out the lack of appropriate counselling skills among adolescent care-givers as a risk factor in adolescent substance abuse. In as much as McGullicuddy et al. (2009) argue that parents play an important role in changing attitudes, behaviours and knowledge in the social environment, lack of skills to disseminate this becomes a challenge. Chapman (2009) also sums up the research on the refusal assertiveness of 1,500 students by acknowledging the role played by skills imparted by competent persons in strengthening the refusal assertiveness among the students. Further, scholars have argued that the understanding of social psychology plays an important role in propagating substance abuse among young people (McKim, 2003; Sussman & Almes, 2004). Moskowitz (2009) notes that in as much as the media has been known to broadcast pro-drugs messages, the same avenue provides an appropriate opportunity to prevent adolescent substance abuse. The opportunity lies in the popularity of mass media among adolescents and the trust that this group has on the information communicated via mass media (Canning et al. 2004). NIDA (2003) particularly points out on the popularity of television as a critical vehicle for impacting behavioural change among adolescents. The fight against drug and substance abuse among this group of people requires that adopted programs connect more with teenagers in as far as their priorities are concerned, including individual competencies and social relationships (Moss & Dyer, 2010; Palmer & O’Riordan, 2010). Mass media captures the attention of most adolescents with Petrie, Bunn and Byrne (2006) noting the connectivity it has with this group. As such, the pro-drugs messages through such media would appeal to the adolescents. It is this connectivity that would be used to pass across anti-drugs messages. Parents also have the duty to make sure that adolescents are exposed to channels airing programmes that deter drug abuse (Velleman, Templeton & Copello, 2005). Motivational system made up of motives, emotional state, responses, overarching plans and inhibitory forces continuously interact with the external and internal environments to influence substance abuse in humans (West & Hardy, 2006; Wright, Williams & Garland, 2002). The media plays an important role in inhibiting or propagating adolescent substance abuse with Krank and Goldstein (2005) and NIDA (2010) noting that such motivational systems play an important role in shaping adolescent behaviour. The reason why the media has been a key vehicle in propagating substance abuse has been because it has modelled drug abuse “as a natural and every day event on prime-time television” (NIDA, 2003, p.15). Pervasiveness of drug content has been enhanced through all forms of entertainment media appealing to adolescents including magazines, radio and records with alcohol being the most depicted drug according to Stoddard (2009) and the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, UNODOCCP (2002). Skiba, Monroe and Wodarski (2004) support the fact that substance abuse among adolescents would result from a myriad of factors ranging from peer pressure in schools to the community. The resilience theory suggests that behaviour and development course among adolescents would be a result of various factors, both internal and external (Heyman, 2009; Mikolajczak, Petrides & Hurry, 2009; Waldron & Kaminer, 2004). On the other hand, NIDA (2003) cites social influences, psychological and developmental factors as risk factors that interact to propagate substance abuse among adolescents. For this reason, Donaldson et al. (2000) argue that effective prevention programs would ride on a combination of various approaches. Conclusion Research has proved the existence of an array of risk factors that expose adolescents to using alcohol, tobacco and other proprietary drugs including developmental, sociological and psychological factors leading to adverse effects among the adolescents. Competence and experience like knowledge and skills would be necessary aspects for caregivers and parents of adolescents if this group would be imparted with high refusal assertiveness. Adolescent substance abuse programs bringing together schools and communities would continue to be applied widely due to the enormous support on its effectiveness from researchers. 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