Substance Abuse by Adolescents with ADHD

Substance Abuse By Adolescents with ADHD

            The availability of a plethora of drugs to underage adolescents should not come as a surprise to people nowadays.  The drugs are an escape from reality, recreational, and an experience that changes your perspectives of the world.  While addiction and the susceptibility to use can become a problem for virtually anyone out there, it can be extremely risky for kids who have Attention Deficit Hyper-activity Disorder (ADHD).  

Michael L. Vitulano (U. of Tennessee), Paula J. Fite (U. of Kansas), Derek R. Hopko (U. of Tennessee), John Lochman (U. of Alabama), Karen Wells (Duke University School of Medicine), and Irfan Asif (U. of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine) all collaborated on an article earlier this year for the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors the Link Between Childhood ADHD Symptoms and Risk for Early Initiation of Substance Abuse. In this article, they admitted that there are still a lot of questions to be answered regarding the link, but the research conducted on individuals with ADHD shows that they are more likely to engage in drug use as early as fourth to ninth grade (Vitulano et al., 2014). The research used fourth to ninth graders as a ratio of those who used and who did not in that age group. Another reason for this style of research was to see how many kids diagnosed with ADHD were in fact using drugs. The drugs tested for were tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol. “Further, school bonding may or may not represent an influential factor in the developmental pathway from ADHD symptoms to risk for early substance use initiation” (Vitulano et al., 2014).

            The information that can be gained from this research is that because of the spectrum of the antisocial tendencies in adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyper-activity Disorder, the risks of early substance use is at a higher risk than a child without the disorder. This research is still in progress and will continue to be researched if there are proper educational ways to make it known to that age group the risks of the drugs.

Abstract

Vitulano, M. L., Fite, P. J., Hopko, D. R., Lochman, J., Wells, K., & Asif, I. (2014, September). Evaluation of Underlying Mechanisms in the Link Between Childhood ADHD Symptoms and Risk for Early Initiation of Substance Use. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/adb/28/3/816.pdf