Epidemiologic trends of adolescent use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
This article provides an overview of drug and alcohol use and risk factors among American adolescents. Current trends indicate that tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana are the most frequently used substances among this age group. Further, the greatest risk factors for using these substances are being male, being White, being an older adolescent, engaging in sexual risk behaviors, having a family history of substance abuse, associating with peers who abuse substances, and lacking a sense of school commitment and connectedness. These findings underscore the need to involve communities, families, schools, and peer groups to effectively prevent and treat this problem.
Latimer
William
W
Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2213 McElderry Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. wlatimer@jhsph.edu
Zur
Julia
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology