Adolescence And Substance Development

Is there a connection between adolescence development and substance use?

According to Child and Adolescence Development (Rathus, 2008) adolescent is defined as the transitional period between childhood and adulthood, a coming of age. There are several risk factors during adolescent developmental stages which could result in substance use such as, peer pressure, family problems, bullying, along with several. How can we connect the problematic adolescent with the start of Substance Use Disorder?

Demographics of Child Development

The effects of society can be damaging for the development of a child even more so a teenager. A teenager may be subjected to many stressful situations, which may lead to not only developmental problems but also

As a child all you know is the innocence of life. As an adult you realize just how cruel life can be, as a teenager nothing makes sense. Although so many things are inevitable dealing with the hardships life brings can become extremely hard, especially for adolescents who are trying to understand who they are and are in search of their identity. Several factors already contribute to behavior problems and drug use. According to Childhood and Adolescence: Voyages of Development “you inherent your families genes”. In simple form if both of your parents use drugs or alcohol you may have inherited that trait during your conception. Your chances of substance use and alcohol use are greater than that of someone whose parents had never used either of the two. Learned behavior not only from your parents but also your environment influences the developmental and growth process. For example, what you see and hear along with the many other known factors such as biological genes and inheritance shapes a child’s growth. Adolescents have a risky lifestyle resulting in problematic behaviors such as, excessive drinking, substance use, violence, and several

During this time what’s taught and seen can be very detrimental to the life of an adolescent, leading to unhealthy decisions and erratic behavior. This behavior can result in substance use because of poor decision making and the adolescent need to relieve themselves from the pain their enduring. As stated by Vygotsky the environment plays a significant role in the development of a child thus, can become very confusing for an adolescent who is trying to understand who he/she is to become in life. An adolescent is still growing and may not acquire the skilled mind set to balance nature vs nurtures influence surrounding him as stated by Uri. Contemporary theorist view adolescence as a period when biological changes drive certain kinds of behavior, however these behaviors are influenced by environmental factors and an adolescent in ability to control their emotions and behaviors. (Rathus,