Substance Abuse in Teenagers

This article discusses the issue of substance abuse in teenagers, focusing on the causes, impacts, and theories of addiction. It explores how substance abuse affects growth and development in adolescents.

Running head: SUBSTANCE ABUSE
Substance abuse
Name
ID
Course
Unit
Lecturer
Date

SUBSTANCE ABUSE 2
Substance abuse in teenagers and how it leads to impaired growth and development
Description of the issue
Substance abuse is the risky use of psychoactive drugs that change the normal function of
the brain according to Bivin & Riaz, (2017). The abuse of the drugs lead to temporary or
permanent change in one’s behavior, perception, consciousness, and mood. The abuse of
psychoactive drugs is a global challenge that many nations are suffering from around the world.
However, the population that experiences a high percentage of drug abuse in the world are the
youth. Consequently, the level of addiction to drugs among adolescents is affecting the countries
negatively. One of the reasons that make the issue a global challenge is that teenagers are the
people who contribute to a higher percentage of the country’s economy. The first step in
addressing this problem is identifying the causes of the drug abuse among the teenagers. The
countries that are affected by this problem list the following as some of the causes of substance
abuse among the teenagers:
i. Peer pressure- this is one of the primary reason of substance abuse among
teenagers. The children who join the adolescent group get influence from their
friends. For instance, a youth that identifies with drug addicts mainly end up to start
doing the same. The reason is that birds of the same feathers will always flock
together.
ii. Social media- almost every youth have access to a gadget that can access online
materials. Social media is full of every form of drug abuse and the methods of
obtaining the drugs according to Das, Salam, Arshad, Finkelstein & Bhutta, (2016).
Therefore, it promotes a higher level of abuse among youths.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE 3
iii. Lack of supervision from the parents- the high cost of living in many countries
have made the parents concentrate on how to make ends meet in their families. The
parents are always busy looking at how to pay fees and meet other basic needs in the
family. They like time to concentrate on the youths. Therefore, teenagers take
advantage of this freedom to abuse drugs. The parents only realize at later stages that
their child is hooked on drugs.
iv. Accessibility to drugs is easy- the sellers and suppliers of these drugs are known,
people. They connect with some people in the authority department to run these
illegal businesses, thus making it easy for the youths to access the drugs.
Drug addiction among youth takes various forms. DiClemente, (2018) argue that one may be
addicted to smoking, inhalants, pills or liquid drugs. However, the effects of each of these forms
differ depending on the drugs.
Behavioral or process, addiction and social norms about substance abuse among the
youths.
Norms refer to what is acceptable to a given society. There are behaviors in drug
addiction among the youths that goes against the standard in the community and the medical
sector. When it comes to behavioral norms, some drugs are for specific diseases. However, the
youth go against the purpose of the drugs to satisfy their own needs. For instance in medicine, a
small portion of alcohol is to ease digestion. However, youth takes excess alcohol to change their
moods and forget their problems. Such behavior is against the norms of society. Besides that,
there is an aspect of the social norm. The drug addict does not observe time and the place where
they abuse the drugs. For instance, a teenager who is addicted to smoking may decide to smoke

SUBSTANCE ABUSE 4
cigarettes or bhang publicly without considering the presence of other people. Such behavior is
against social norm that expects everybody to behave in an organized manner. Apart from that,
the behavior and addiction norm is also evident in the way the addicted teenagers dress. These
people tend to be shaggy and disorganized. Some of them have a terrible smell from their bodies
that make it difficult for them to socialize with other people.
On the other hand, it is important to note that the social norms of a given society
influence the behaviors of adolescents. Studying the social norms of a given group of people
assist in finding ways to advise youths on health matters. For example, every community
identifies with certain cultural activities that may promote drug abuse. The ideal step is to study
the belief and give proper advice about substance abuse on youths.
Impact of substance abuse on teenagers concerning traditional models and theories of
addiction.
Multiple factors promote the development of addiction in adolescents. From traditional
models and theories, environmental influences and biological factors are the leading causes of
drug addiction according to Heather, Best, Kawalek, Field, Lewis, Rotgers, & Heim, (2018). In
biological factors, the youths inherit the addiction behaviors through the genes. In this case, a
child is born; there are already existing addiction behaviors in his or her life. However, when it
comes to environmental influences, these are what the children experience during their childhood
period. For example the cultural activities in the societies and the interpersonal relationships that
the child develops as he or she grows.
From the traditional model and theories on addiction, there are evident impacts of substance
abuse on the adolescent. However, these effects differ based on the drug the youth is abusing and

SUBSTANCE ABUSE 5
the level of abuse. The following are some of the impacts of substance abuse according to
Winters, Botzet, Stinchfield, Gonzales-Castaneda, Finch, Piehler & Hemze, (2018):
i. Behavioral challenges- adolescents who tend to misuse drugs show various social
problems. Some of these behavior challenges include having suicidal thought,
depression, and violence. Many fights that people experience in the society are
because of argument among the addicted youths.
ii. Damage of the brain- multiple mental disorders come because of drug abuse.
Some of these disorders are permanent. The illnesses include impaired reasoning,
amnesia, and brain shrinkage.
iii. Several cases of sex assault- from the research the youths who are addicted to
drugs have high sexual desire than those who take the drugs. However, such
behaviors are risky because they lead to unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted
infections, and early pregnancies.
iv. Learning challenges- a drug addict always has a short-term memory. During
learning, they experience constant frustrations that eventually make them drop out of
school.
v. criminal activities- the drug addict opt to take the drugs every day, however, these
teenagers lack constant flow of income to purchase the drugs. They engage in
criminal activities to get whatever they want according to Krasikova, Lester &
Harms, (2015). Consequently, such behaviors risk their life as police officers end up
shooting some of them during the operations.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE 6
References
Bivin, J. B., & Riaz, K. M. (2017). Assessment of Substance Abuse among Teenagers: Review
of Instruments Commonly Used in Healthcare and Research. Asian Journal of Nursing
Education and Research, 7(2), 248-254.
Das, J. K., Salam, R. A., Arshad, A., Finkelstein, Y., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2016). Interventions for
adolescent substance abuse: An overview of systematic reviews. Journal of Adolescent
Health, 59(4), S61-S75.
DiClemente, C. C. (2018). Addiction and change: How addictions develop and addicted people
recover. Guilford Publications.2,pp.22-90.
Heather, N., Best, D., Kawalek, A., Field, M., Lewis, M., Rotgers, F., ... & Heim, D. (2018).
Challenging the brain disease model of addiction: European launch of the addiction
theory network.
Krasikova, D. V., Lester, P. B., & Harms, P. D. (2015). Effects of psychological capital on
mental health and substance abuse. Journal of Leadership & Organizational
Studies, 22(3), 280-291.
Winters, K. C., Botzet, A. M., Stinchfield, R., Gonzales-Castaneda, R., Finch, A. J., Piehler, T.
F., ... & Hemze, A. (2018). Adolescent substance abuse treatment: A review of evidence-
based research. In Adolescent Substance Abuse(pp. 141-171). Cham ,Springer.