Drug use among adolescents is a serious health, societal and economic problem facing America today. Drug use can alter the brain, resulting in compulsive drug abuse and chronic addiction. Drug addiction is associated with many health problems, accidents and crimes, and is a potentially terminal illness.
Prevention Principles
The National Institute of Drug Abuse recommends basing prevention efforts upon proven techniques, known as evidenced-based strategies. Research shows strengthening protective factors, minimizing risk factors, addressing all types of substance abuse, increasing family bonding and parenting skills, intervening early in childhood, improving academic and social functioning, and providing consistent drug-free messages and norms throughout the community to be effective strategies. A norm is a behavior that is seen as normal and acceptable by the community.
Risk Factors Versus Protective Factors
Research has identified factors that increase the likelihood of drug abuse in a teen, known as risk factors. Conversely, some factors decrease the likelihood of adolescent drug abuse, known as protective factors. Evidence-based strategies aim to strengthen a teen's protective factors and minimize his risk factors.
One risk factor is early aggressive behavior, while self-control is a protective factor in a teen. Families with poor parental supervision are a risk factor for an adolescent, while closer monitoring can serve as an inoculation against drug abuse. Poverty and peer drug abuse are also risk factors, contrasting with academic ability and strong community affiliation as protective factors.
Drug availability, as one might expect, is a risk factor for teens, while well-enforced drug-free policies decrease the likelihood of substance use.
Environmental Strategies
Environmental strategies are a familiar health and safety method. Examples include automatic air bags, ground fault circuit interruption outlets in bathrooms and kitchens, safety tops on soda pop cans and laws prohibiting sales of alcohol to children. These make the undesirable outcome'for example, electrocution caused by using appliances near water'less likely to occur in the first place, while requiring minimal or no effort or change in behavior.
Using Environmental Strategies to Prevent Drug Use
Environmental strategies are among the most effective, least expensive techniques to prevent addiction, and easiest to implement. These involve changing the community environment to decrease risk factors and promote acceptance of drug-free social norms.
This principle can be used successfully to prevent children from abusing drugs. Environmental strategies are aimed at reducing access to drugs, making the drug-free lifestyle an accepted social norm, and adopting and enforcing effective regulations. Reducing access to alcohol and tobacco protects children from health problems caused by those substances and promotes a substance-free social norm.
The frequency of adolescent drug use in a community is proportionate to regulations discouraging it, social norms that disapprove, and availability of drugs.
What Parents Can Do
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration recommends parents take steps at home to decrease the likelihood their children will experiment with drugs. Strategies include establishing open communication before the teen years and maintaining it; being involved in children's lives; having firm, consistent, and reasonable rules in the home; setting a good example as a role model; assisting children to develop critical thinking and decision-making skills; and monitoring activities.
Parents can volunteer their time to implement environmental strategies in their communities by contacting their local drug prevention agency.
