Substance use: family-based interventions to prevent substance use among youth

    Publication year: 2023

    Youth substance use is associated with increased risk for delinquency, academic underachievement, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, perpetrating or experiencing violence, injuries, and mental health problems (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2016). Preventing or delaying substance use initiation among youth (defined in this review as children and adolescents ages 10-17) reduces later risk for substance use, substance use disorders, and overdose (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2016). In 2021, substance use was common among U.S. high school students and varied by substance. Approximately one-third of students (30%) reported current use of alcohol or marijuana or prescription opioid misuse (Hoots et al. 2023). In 2022, more than 3 million middle and high school students reported using a commercial tobacco product (Park-Lee et al. 2022) and 11.0% of 8th graders reported lifetime use of marijuana (Miech et al. 2023). Substance use trends in the United States have changed in recent years. There have been increases in the availability of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, misuse of prescription drugs, and popularity of e-cigarettes and vaping products, and changes in the legal and regulatory landscape for cannabis (Hoots et al. 2023). Intervention research highlights parenting as a key protective factor that can be enhanced through skill-based training interventions (Ladis et al. 2019, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2016). Interventions designed to strengthen preventive skills and practices among parents and caregivers such as communication, positive relationship interactions, monitoring and control have the potential to protect youth from initiation of substance use and other risk behaviors (Stockings et al. 2016, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2016).