Health Promotion: Substance Abuse, Essay Example

Substance abuse is a problem that impacts many individuals independent of age group. However, it is important to help juveniles understand the importance of avoiding drugs so they can prevent the biological and mental damage that results from addiction. An adolescent is an individual between 10 to 19 years of age. Adolescents are highly influenced by the decisions and opinions of their friends, so in many cases peer pressure can result in early drug use. Individuals that become addicted to drugs early in life are more likely to continue this addiction into later stages, contributing to social and economic issues for the individual. Adolescents that become drug users are also more likely to become involved in crime due to the need for them to raise money to support their addictions. Overall, it is necessary to determine how we can work to protect adolescents from harm. This literature review will provide background information about substance use among adolescents and use this information to draw understandings about health programs that could be implemented to prevent their involvement in this behavior.

A 1997 study was conducted to determine the risk factors and protective factors that children are exposed to with regards to the family, school, and individual environment (Resnick, 1997). This study functioned as a cross-sectional analysis using more than 12,000 data points from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Several risk factors and protective factors were examined, including emotional distress, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, violence, use of substances, and sexual behaviors. It was found that perceived connection with family and school operated as protective factors in this relationship. Individuals that worked more than 20 hours a week in high school were more likely to use alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. Students that were repeating a grade were also more likely to use substances. This information could be used to target at risk students and provide them with counseling before they begin substance use.

A recent systematic review reported that a large number of adolescents experiment with substances (Sharma, 2015). Approximately 44% of children between the ages of 10 and 19 have tried a cigarette, approximately 38% have tried alcohol, 23% of students have tried marijuana, and a small percentage of students (8%) have even tried more addictive drugs such as heroin. It is important to consider that this is highly problematic with regards to the amount of individuals that engage in these practices. Creating education programs to help these students understand the repercussions of drug use may help contribute to the reduction of use in this population. Since the behaviors of adolescents are directed by their interactions with their families and the community, it is helpful to provide adolescents with a support system to help them make healthy decisions throughout their development (Viner, 2012). Such an approach can reasonably make substance education and prevention programs more effective.

Studies have shown that the implementation of police programs, including after school organized activities has helped adolescents remain off the streets and drug free (Lowinson, 2005). These programs are effective because they provide these individuals with necessary support systems if they are not receiving them at home. Furthermore, since adolescents enrolled in these programs have an opportunity to spend time with their friends in this context, a positive influence is perpetuated and the protection of these children is ensured. It would be beneficial for health care professionals to team up with law enforcement to help make these programs more prevalent for individuals living in areas that are seen as high need.

Nurses can become more directly involved with the care of their adolescent patients by determining which individuals have a medical risk of addiction. Some individuals are provided with prescription medications in hospitals that contribute to their addiction (Alexander et al., 2012). Since these drugs were provided for medical purposes, it is necessary for medical professionals to counsel them regarding proper use and provide them with a follow up schedule to monitor their addiction. For example, morphine is a drug commonly used in medicine and can become addictive when used long-term. It is important for adolescents to understand that they should not attempt to access these drugs without prescriptions. A final important understanding about the medical aspect of addiction is that some individuals are biologically predisposed for such traits. A recent study hypothesized that excessive alcohol use is linked to prefrontal cortex dysfunction (Uekermann & Daum, 2008). While there is a need to conduct more studies of this sort to confirm these findings, it is important for nurses to address the biology of adolescents predisposed for substance dependence as well. Overall, there is a lot of work that has to be done to help professionals gain a better understanding of how to help adolescents engage in preventative practices. However, it is important to consider biological and demographic features in the creation of specialized education programs to ensure that these individuals are able to receive all of the proper information necessary to make their own decisions.

References

Alexander GC, Kruszewski SP, Webster DW. (2012). Rethinking Opioid Prescribing to Protect Patient Safety and Public Health. JAMA, 308:1865-1866.

Lowinson, Joyce H; Ruiz, Pedro; Millman, Robert B; Langrod, John G (eds) (2005). Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Textbook (4th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Resnick, M. (1997). Protecting adolescents from harm. Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 278(10), 823-832. doi:10.1001/jama.1997.03550100049038.

Sharma, Manoj, MBBS, MCHES, PhD., F.A.A.H.B. (2015). Substance abuse in adolescents: Implications for research and practice. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, 59(1), 3-6.

Uekermann J, Daum I. (2008). Social cognition in alcoholism: a link to prefrontal cortex dysfunction?. Addiction, 103(5): 726–35.

Viner, R. M., Ozer, E. M., Denny, S., Marmot, M., Resnick, M., Fatusi, A., & Currie, C. (2012). Adolescent health 2: Adolescence and the social determinants of health. The Lancet, 379(9826), 1641-52.