The World of Substance Abuse and Adolescents

Nick McLatchy

Kelcie Eckert

April 22nd, 2024

 The World of Substance Abuse and Adolescents

The adolescent years are considered to be the most important years of one’s life. It is

crucial adolescents make healthy choices and are able to learn during this stage. This can be

measured through a student's overall academic standing, and how well they are doing in school.

However, it has been found that by the age of 18 many adolescents have used substances such as

alcohol or other substances at some point within their life. This number has grown to a point of

majority over the last decade. With this shocking statistic, it raises a lot of concern and question

over the health and well being of the next generation. Because students are taking interest in the

use of substances during such a developmental time in their lives, it raises the question: how

does the use of substances and alcohol among adolescents affect their overall academic

performance, and how does it affect their development? This essay will highlight why

adolescents choose to use substances, the lack of education on substances, and the negative

impacts of substances on adolescents.

To learn if substances can affect adolescents, we first need to learn why they choose to

use substances in the first place. Not only this, but how many adolescents on average use

substances. On average, at least 64% of highschool seniors had consumed alcohol within the past

year1. This number is substantial as it shows a majority of adolescents within their senior year of

highschool have consumed alcohol in some regard. It would be interesting to explore more about

certain locations in the world where this statistic would be higher or lower. It would also be

fascinating to learn about how low-income districts versus higher class districts would be

affected differently and also other circumstantial factors that would affect the culture and

1
Mason, W. Alex, Amy L. Stevens, and Charles B. Fleming. 2020. “A Systematic Review of
Research on Adolescent Solitary Alcohol and Marijuana Use in the United States.” Addiction
115 (1): 19–31. doi:10.1111/add.14697.
upbringing of the youth. In contrast, 22% had reported to have consumed alcohol when alone.2

This may be a sign of substance abuse or dependance. These statistics were done in a study using

national surveillance data collected on high-school seniors, as it states,

“Using US national surveillance data collected between 2005 and 2016 on high school
seniors in the Monitoring the Future (MTF) Study, Terry‐McElrath et al. found that 64%
reported using alcohol in the past year and, of drinkers, 22% reported drinking alone.
This would indicate an overall population prevalence of 14%. The highest life‐time
prevalence was 38.8%, reported in a study that combined both general population and
clinical samples” 3

It is evident based on these statistics that the demographic of students that are using substances is

substantial, and consists of a majority. This may make it difficult to find solid conclusive data on

the effects of substance use among adolescents compared to ones that abstain from substances.

One dangerous factor that comes to mind about substance and alcohol use in adolescence

is that there's not a lot of education about alcohol safety. This is especially important during this

substantially impactful time of their lives. It's important that they know the effects of the choices

that they're making. Because this is such a crucial time of their development mentally, physically,

and emotionally, it's important that they can focus on their education and learning about their

sense of self. It is also important that they can focus on their overall participation in activities

that will promote their growth, as opposed to inhibiting it through mind-altering chemicals and

essentially poison.

There are also several factors that come into play when considering why an adolescent

may choose to take substances, rather than abstain from them all together. Studies show that a lot

of students who partake in substance abuse felt pressured to take them by their peers or because

2
Mason, W. Alex, Amy L. Stevens, and Charles B. Fleming. 2020. “A Systematic Review of
Research on Adolescent Solitary Alcohol and Marijuana Use in the United States.” Addiction
115 (1): 19–31. doi:10.1111/add.14697.
3
Mason, W. Alex, Amy L. Stevens, and Charles B. Fleming. 2020. “A Systematic Review of
Research on Adolescent Solitary Alcohol and Marijuana Use in the United States.” Addiction
115 (1): 19–31. doi:10.1111/add.14697.
of pre existing academic struggles “Thus, participants who perceived more social pressure from

important others in their lives, those with a more favorable attitude, and those who perceived it is

easy for them to take the stimulant are more likely to show intention to take stimulants for

academic performance enhancement” 4 This also indicates that the person the student is receiving

pressure from matters. If someone that is important to the student decides to pressure them into

the use of substances, the student is much more likely to give in than if it was someone that the

student had no affiliation with. Further research could be conducted on the likelihood of

adolescents developing alcohol related addictions or substance-related addictions in relation to

the amount of people in their lives that are utilizing these substances, namely in households. It

would be easy to assume that adolescents in families that drink would have an increased

likelihood of also developing the tendencies to drink. That is where nature vs nurture comes into

play though, as it could be looked at in various ways surrounding genetics versus environment of

the youth.

Oftentimes, when an adolescent uses substances, they believe that the substance they are

using will enhance their overall academic performance. This is a common misconception among

students that the use of substances such as stimulants can increase academic performance and

lead to more success academically. They seek them out in order to try and improve their school

work. However, research shows that substances have the exact opposite effect. “A recent study

found that 76% of college nonmedical users believe their nonmedical use improves their grades,

although research suggests that nonmedical use is associated with lower academic performance.

Another study observed that only 30% of students in their sample used methylphenidate

4
Ponnet, Koen, Edwin Wouters, Michel Walrave, Wannes Heirman, and Guido Van Hal. 2015.
“Predicting Students’ Intention to Use Stimulants for Academic Performance Enhancement.”
Substance Use & Misuse 50 (3): 275–82. doi:10.3109/10826084.2014.952446.
exclusively to study.” 5 This indicates that at least 30% of students seek out substances for

academic success, as shown by their use strictly during studying. However, statistically they are

worsening their overall academic performance by using substances.

There are several different studies that show the negative impact substances have on

adolescents that have been touched on thus far. But how do they compare to students who abstain

from substance use altogether? Studies show that students who refrain from using any substances

at all during their development show higher academic performance and experience better

outcomes in school compared to their peers who use substances “Many 12th graders have

abstained from all substance use during their lifetime, and these adolescents experience better

academic outcomes than their substance-using peers. Substance use prevention programs should

be evaluated as a way to promote academic achievement.” 6 This research shows that the

minority of students who refrain from substances as a whole do, in fact, perform better

academically than their counterparts who use substances.

After delving into why students partake in substances, the leading causes and influences

of substance use, and the negative effects of substances; it is indisputable that substance abuse

harbors an obstructive effect on adolescents in a variety of ways. Further research could take into

consideration the complexities of making the decisions to engage in substances. This could be

expanded through observing and researching a variety of natural, and environmental factors that

could influence an adolescent to start these substances. This research would allow a more

5
Garnier-Dykstra, LauraM., KimberlyM. Caldeira, KathrynB. Vincent, KevinE. O’Grady, and
AmeliaM. Arria. 2012. “Nonmedical Use of Prescription Stimulants During College: Four-Year
Trends in Exposure Opportunity, Use, Motives, and Sources.” Journal of American College
Health 60 (3): 226–34. doi:10.1080/07448481.2011.589876
6
Bugbee, Brittany A., Kenneth H. Beck, Craig S. Fryer, and Amelia M. Arria. 2019. “Substance
Use, Academic Performance, and Academic Engagement Among High School Seniors.” Journal
of School Health 89 (2): 145–56. doi:10.1111/josh.12723.
in-depth understanding on if the substances themselves are causing adverse effects, or if it more

so has to do with coping mechanisms in response to other events.

 Works Cited

Garnier-Dykstra, LauraM., KimberlyM. Caldeira, KathrynB. Vincent, KevinE. O’Grady, and

AmeliaM. Arria. 2012. “Nonmedical Use of Prescription Stimulants During College:

Four-Year Trends in Exposure Opportunity, Use, Motives, and Sources.” Journal of

American College Health 60 (3): 226–34. doi:10.1080/07448481.2011.589876.

Researchers use data that they collected on over 1,000 college students to determine if

non medical stimulant usage affects them during the school year. These factors include

motive and risk factors. The goal is to examine trends. The conclusion leads to

implications that clinicians should be aware of the likelihood of overuse and misuse

among college age patients with ADHD

Bugbee, Brittany A., Kenneth H. Beck, Craig S. Fryer, and Amelia M. Arria. 2019. “Substance

Use, Academic Performance, and Academic Engagement Among High School Seniors.”

Journal of School Health 89 (2): 145–56. doi:10.1111/josh.12723.

Researchers pose the question of how substance use and academic achievement are tied

together. They claim that the two are very prevalent and associated with one another, but

there have not been many studies done to support a theory. They proceed to take sample

data from over 9,000 12th graders from the Monitoring the Future survey. This gives

them data on the students' relation with substances. They then can make comparisons

based on this data. They came to the conclusion that the 12th graders who have abstained

from substances all of their lives achieved better academic success.

Mason, W. Alex, Amy L. Stevens, and Charles B. Fleming. 2020. “A Systematic Review of

Research on Adolescent Solitary Alcohol and Marijuana Use in the United States.”

Addiction 115 (1): 19–31. doi:10.1111/add.14697.

Researchers analyze the risks of solitary alcohol and marijuana use among adolescents.

They try to discover motives and theorize that solitary use may be caused by a coping

mechanism. They came to the conclusion that solitary use of these substances leads to a

higher addiction rate.

Ponnet, Koen, Edwin Wouters, Michel Walrave, Wannes Heirman, and Guido Van Hal. 2015.

“Predicting Students’ Intention to Use Stimulants for Academic Performance

Enhancement.” Substance Use & Misuse 50 (3): 275–82.

doi:10.3109/10826084.2014.952446.

The author states that the non medical use of stimulants for academic performance

enhancement is becoming more common among college students enrolled in university.

They wish to gain a better understanding of their intentions in the use of stimulants and

understand their motives. This could be useful because it can show what leads

adolescents to use substances and show a comparison to ones that do not abuse

substances.

Melendez-Torres, G.J., R. Ponsford, J. Falconer, and C. Bonell. 2023. “Whole-School

Interventions Promoting Student Commitment to School to Prevent Substance Use and

Violence: A Systematic Review.” Public Health (Elsevier) 221 (August): 190–97.

doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2023.06.021.
 The author talks about how there is a whole school intervention plan that promotes

students to commit to the abstinence of substances. This helps prevent the beginning of

substance abuse in adolescents. The author and researchers ran several evaluations to

gather the statistics on violence amongst students who abused substances. They came to

the conclusion that the rate of violence in students with substance abuse problems was

higher, but they stated that future research should take into consideration different

contextual details that may also factor into higher violence when observing the data. This

may be able to show some evidence towards substances negatively impacting academic

performance in school as students who are more violent may not be able to focus as well,

or may be more rebellious in classes.

van Namen, Dorine M., Sander R. Hilberink, Hein de Vries, AnneLoes van Staa, and Gera E.

Nagelhout. 2024. “Students with and Without Relatives with Problematic Substance Use:

Do They Differ in Health, Substance Use and Study Success?” International Journal of

Mental Health & Addiction 22 (1): 417–37. doi:10.1007/s11469-022-00881-3.

Researchers in this article pose the question of if students' substance abuse problems are

more impacted by the lack of relatives in their lives, or if it does not have a substantial

impact on their misuse of substances. They are looking for student health, achievement,

success, and the degree of substance abuse. They are also looking to see if any of these

factors change based on the family that they have present in their lives. They also go on

to describe how the substance abuse impacts the students and their family members.

There is also an entire section of the article that primarily talks about how substance

abuse impacts students and their functionality, as to being able to gain control.
University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, Richard A. Miech, Lloyd D. Johnston,

Megan E. Patrick, Patrick M. O’Malley, Jerald G. Bachman, and John E. Schulenberg.

2023. “Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2022:

Secondary School Students.” Institute for Social Research.

This article is a document and study done to try and monitor future drug use among

secondary school students. It is designed to give attention to substance use among youth

and adults. It is designed to investigate and research different statistics that lead into drug

abuse. It talks about how there are surveys that are sent out to students to collect data that

will allow researchers to conduct research on the number of students who have problems

with substance abuse.

Kavirajan, Harish. 2016. “Can Brief School‐based Interventions Improve Outcomes for

Substance‐using Adolescents?” Edited by Karen Pettersen. Cochrane Clinical Answers,

July. doi:10.1002/cca.1244.

The author of this article begins by stating different intervention techniques that they

have been trying to use in schools to prevent and stop students from forming a substance

abuse problem. They also show statistics on the frequency of alcohol use among students

in one of their outcomes. They go on to talk about several of their different intervention

strategies such as motivational interviewing, motivational enhancement therapy, one on

one risk reduction consultation, weekly meeting and sessions with students, and more.

Some of their strategies cover specific substances such as cannabis abuse and alcohol

abuse.