Substance Use: Teen Pitfalls – Stress, Boredom, Extra Money

Talbot Partnership encourages the community to identify problems related to substance use with our teens by understanding the risk factors. According to The National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse VIII: Teens and Parents, an annual back-to-school survey conducted by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, the risk that teens will smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs increases sharply if they are highly stressed, frequently bored or have substantial amounts of spending money.

This was the first time in its eight-year history that the survey measured the impact of these characteristics on the likelihood of teen substance abuse.

Among CASA’s survey findings:

• High stress teens are twice as likely as low stress teens to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs.
• Often bored teens are 50 percent likelier than not often bored teens to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs.
• Teens with $25 or more a week in spending money are nearly twice as likely as teens with less to smoke, drink and use illegal drugs, and more than twice as likely to get drunk.
• Teens exhibiting two or three of these characteristics are at more than three times the risk of substance abuse as those exhibiting none of these characteristics.
• More than half the nation’s 12-to-17 year olds (52 percent) are at greater risk of substance abuse because of high stress, frequent boredom, too much spending money, or some combination of these characteristics.

Furthermore Talbot Partnership agrees with CASA Chairman and President and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph A. Califano, Jr that “High stress, frequent boredom and too much spending money are a catastrophic combination for many American teens.”But it is a catastrophe that can be avoided through parental engagement. Parents must be sensitive to the stress in their children’s lives, understand why they are bored and limit their spending money.”

Source: CASA News Release Part 1

For further information on the dangers of alcohol and other drugs, contact Talbot Partnership at 410-819-8067. Please also visit our website at www.talbotpartnership.org or find us on Facebook.