Perspectives on Preventing Adolescent Substance Use and Misuse

Abstract

This article reviews different theoretical models concerning the prevention of substance use by adolescents. The models differ in their concepts and in their assumptions. Because the models describe different parts of the substance use problem, they can be combined to provide the basis for the design of information-based prevention programs. For example, in order to understand adolescent development, identity models or attachment models can be used. To understand adolescent norm changes, cultural models or peer system models can be applied. To understand how adolescents cope in specific situations where alcohol and other drugs are available, models that include concepts like self-esteem, drug expectations, existing norms, and perceived control of substance use can be employed. All preventive programs need to be pretested as well as evaluated both during and postprogram. The models mentioned may be used as frameworks in an evaluation, i.e., the variables and the assumptions in the models can be used as hypotheses to establish whether the desired results are achieved as a consequence of the selected strategies and techniques in the preventive program. A greater knowledge of the social and psychological processes preventing substance use will put us in a better position to influence and understand adolescent substance use in the future.

• Prevention
• Prevention models
• Adolescence
• Substance use
• Risk factors
• Protective factors
• Discourse analysis

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John Lilja

John Lilja, Ph.D., received his M.Sc. in Pharmacy from the University of Stockholm. Thereafter, he transferred his interest to the social sciences, economics, and managementsciences, and took a M.Sc. in these subjects in 1969. In 1970–1971 he studied pharmacy administration in the United States. His Ph.D. dissertation, a study of how physicians prescribe drugs, was awarded by the Department of ManagementScience, University of Stockholm, in 1975. John Lilja has been a Lecturer in Social Pharmacy, University of Uppsala, Sweden, and is now Professor of Social Pharmacy atAbo Akademi, Finland. He has published alone or coauthored more than 120 scientific articles and 20 books, e.g., Theoretical Social Pharmacy (1988), Drug Communication (1996) (with Sam Larsson and David Hamilton), and New Perspectives on Depression and Anxiety (1998) (with Sam Larsson). He is a member of the editorial board of Substance Use and Misuse and a faculty member of both the Middle Eastern Summer Institute on Drug Use (MESIDU) and the Middle Eastern- Mediterranean Summer Institute on Drug Use (MEMSIDU). E-mail: [email protected].

Sam Larsson

Sam Larsson, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Uppsala, Sweden. He has been a research assistant and social worker among teenagers with social and psychological problems. He has undertaken research into strategies for preventing benzodiazepine dependency and has been involved in the treatment of clients dependenton benzodiazepine tranquillizers at RFHL, the National Association for Aid to Drug Abusers. He now works as a Lecturer at the Department of Social Work, University of Stockholm, and as a research psychologist at the Karolinska Institute, Center for Dependency Disorders, Magnus Huss Clinic, Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. He has published alone or coauthored approximately 40 scientific papers and 10 books, e.g., Identity and Addiction (1992), Drug Communication (1996) (with John Lilja and David Hamilton), and New Perspectives on Depression and Anxiety (1998) (with John Lilja). E-mail: [email protected].

Britt Unni Wilhelmsen

Britt Unni Wilhelmsen, Ph.D., Departmentof Psychology, University of Bergen, Norway. Her Ph.D thesis analyzed the development and evaluation of educational programs designed to prevent alcohol use among adolescents. She has a long experience in health promotion research and education and has published widely in the area of alcohol and drug prevention. Wilhelmsen is now Associate Professor at Bergen University College in Norway. E-mail: Britt.Wilhelmsen@ nsd.uib.no.

David Hamilton

David Hamilton, Ph.D., is a lecturer in the Department of Adult and Continuing Education, University of Glasgow, Scotland. For the past 15 years he has worked in the area of continuing professional education. In the 1980s he conducted a five-year study for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain to determine the priority areas of the continuing education of pharmacists. E-mail: [email protected].