Improving Parenting & Parent-Teen Communication to Delay or Prevent the Onset of Alcohol & Drug Use in Young Adolescents with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders

Mental health disorders in early adolescence have been shown to predict higher levels of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use later on during adolescence (White, Xie, Thompson, Loeber, & Stouthamer-Loeber, 2001). With respect to the externalizing spectrum, Molina and Pelham (2003), for example, found that children with severe inattention problems were more likely than their peers to develop alcohol-related problems in adolescence. Similarly, early aggression (Lochman & Wayland, 1994; Miller-Johnson, Lochman, Coie, Terry, & Hyman, 1998; Nye, Zucker, & Fitzgerald, 1995), conduct problems (Costello, Erkanli, Federman, & Angold, 1999; Hussong, Curran, & Chassin, 1998), and hyperactivity-impulsivity (Kaplow, Curran, & Dodge, 2002; Molina, Smith, & Pelham, 1999) have all been related to adolescent AOD use.

Internalizing behaviors, such as depressive and anxiety symptoms, have also been shown to be related to adolescent AOD use (Hussong & Chassin, 1994; Kaplow, Curran, Angold, & Costello, 2001; Kelder et al., 2001; Labouvie, 1986; Labouvie, Pandina, White, & Johnson, 1990). The National Survey on Drug Use and Health data found that teens who reported a major depressive episode (29.2%) were two times as likely as non-depressed teens (14.5%) to report lifetime AOD use (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2007). Leech, Day, Richardson, and Goldschmidt (2003) found that 10-year-old children who were depressed, anxious, and male had higher rates of adolescent AOD use than their counterparts. A community study also found that early depressive disorders doubled the risk of initiating alcohol use during adolescence (Kaplow et al., 2001).

The most dramatic increase in AOD use appears to occur in relatively young adolescents, typically between 7^th and 9^th grade (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). Evidence suggests that the earlier one initiates alcohol use, the higher the likelihood of alcohol related problems and disorders later in life (Dawson, Goldstein, Chou, Ruan, & Grant, 2008; Gruber, DiClemente, Anderson, & Lodico, 1996; Hawkins, Catalano, Kosterman, Abbott, & Hill, 1999). These data suggest that efforts to prevent or delay the onset of AOD use in young adolescents with emotional/behavioral disorders are indicated. This paper provides preliminary data on one such prevention program that addresses both parent and adolescent factors related to the onset of AOD use.

Full article at: http://goo.gl/CIral6

By: Anthony Spirito, PhD, Lynn Hernandez, PhD, Mary Kathryn Cancilliere, MSW, Hannah Graves, BA, Valerie S. Knopik, PhD, and Nancy Barnett, PhD

Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI

  

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv_insight