Risk Factors for Adolescent Use and Abuse of Substances:

Peer factors associated with increased risk of substance use or abuse

· Peer substance abuse

· Positive peer attitudes toward substance use

· Greater attachment to peers (than to parents)

· Perception of similarity to peers who use substances

Parent/family factors associated with increased risk of substance use or abuse

· Parental substance use

· Positive parental attitudes about substance use and beliefs about harmlessness of substances

· Parental tolerance of adolescent substance use

· Lack of attachment between parents and child

· Lack of parental involvement with child’s life

· Lack of appropriate supervision/discipline

· Parental antisocial behavior

· Family history of psychopathology

· Family disruption (e.g., divorce)

Individual factors associated with increased risk of substance use or abuse

· Early childhood characteristics such as conduct disorder and aggression

· Poor academic performance/school failure

· Early onset of substance use (especially prior to age 15)

· Positive attitudes/beliefs about substance abuse

· Risk-taking/sensation-seeking behavior

· High tolerance of deviance/nonconformity relative to traditional values

· Positive expectancies regarding the effects of substances

· External locus of control

· Extroversion

· Low self-esteem

· Poor impulse control

· Anxiety/depression

· Impaired coping skills

· Interpersonal/social difficulties

· Traumatic experiences (e.g., childhood physical or sexual abuse)

Biological risk factors

· Genetically controlled physiological processes and characteristics (e.g., altered sensitivity to alcohol or inherited temperament)

Community/social/cultural factors associated with increased risk of substance use or abuse

· Low socioeconomic status

· High population density

· Low population mobility

· Physical deterioration

· High crime

· Increased unemployment

· Deviant norms, which condone abuse of substances

· High alienation of the citizens

· Availability of substances

SOURCE: Dodgen CE, Shea WM. Substance Use Disorders. Academic Press, 2000.