Five Classes Of Risk Factors For Adolescent Use And Abuse Of Substances

​1. Peer Factors

• Peer substance use
• Positive peer attitudes toward substance use
• Greater attachment to peers (than to parents)
• Perception of similarity to peers who use substances

2. Parent/Family Factors

• Parental substance use
• Positive parental attitude about substance use and beliefs about harmlessness of substances
• Parental tolerance of adolescent substance use
• Lack of attachment between parents and child
• Lack of parental involvement with child’s life
• Lack of appropriate supervision/discipline
• Parental antisocial behavior
• Family history of psychopathology
• Family disruption (e.g. divorce)

3. Individual Factors

• Early childhood characteristics such as conduct disorder and aggression
• Poor academic performance/school failure
• Early onset of substance use, especially prior to 15
• Positive attitudes/beliefs about substance abuse
• Risk‐taking/sensation‐seeking behavior
• High tolerance of deviance/nonconformity relative to traditional values
• Positive expectancies regarding the effects of substances
• External locus of control
• Extroversion
• Low self‐esteem
• Poor impulse control
• Anxiety/depression
• Impaired coping skills
• Interpersonal/social difficulties
• Traumatic experiences (e.g. childhood physical or sexual abuse)

4. Biologic Factors

• Genetically controlled physiological processes and characteristics (e.g., altered sensitivity to alcohol or inherited temperament)

5. Community/Social/Cultural Factors

• Low socioeconomic status
• High population density
• Low population mobility
• Physical deterioration
• High Crime
• Increased unemployment
• Deviant norms, which condone the use of substances
• High alienation of the citizens
• Availability of substances

Thom Kessler, LMFT, RAS
[email protected]
415-454-8931