Risk Factors for Substance Use across the Lifespan

Abstract

Substance use is a perennial public health concern with associated health risks and economic impacts on society. In this article, we present a selective review of the epidemiological and clinical literatures on alcohol and substance use from a lifespan developmental perspective. We compare and contrast risk factors for the initiation of use and the development of a substance use disorder in adolescence, young adulthood, middle-age and later life. During adolescence, alcohol use experimentation is at its peak. Specific risk factors have been identified including trauma and parenting style that can increase the risk of substance use for teenagers. Emerging adults and college students are likely to experiment with other substances in addition to alcohol such as nicotine, marijuana, cocaine, and prescription medication such as Adderall. Middle-age and older adults with alcohol and substance use in their developmental histories may have an undiagnosed alcohol use disorder. Others will develop a late-onset substance use disorder in older age, possibly due to a dearth of social support, coping with bereavement, and medical complication. Based on Social Cognitive Theory, the roles of expectancies and self-efficacy are hypothesized to impact substance use and the risk of substance use disorder across the lifespan. Implications of the present review for future research on age-specific risk factors in alcohol use in relation to underlying developmental processes are considered.

Keywords:

• Alcoholism
• binge drinking
• developmental risk factors
• substance use disorder

Disclosure statement

The authors have no financial or non-financial interests to disclose. The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes

1 The goal of this selective review was to summarize empirical findings from the epidemiological and clinical literatures on alcohol and substance use from a lifespan developmental perspective. We focused our search for articles based on chronologically defined seasons of life; adolescence, young adulthood, and middle-age and older adulthood. We searched the three major databases for psychology (PsycInfo, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, and PsycAbstracts) and Google Scholar. Potential articles were considered based on developmental relevance. We found several sizeable literatures that were deemed potentially relevant but were not examined in depth here owing to space restrictions (e.g. the extensive body of literature on substance use and behavioral genetics). A small segment of research on health impacts of substance use in later life was included in this review because we were interested in the implications of substance use for treatment outcomes in clinical settings rather than concomitant biological processes. Wherever possible, interested readers are referred to alternative sources for further reading. Only the literature pertaining to specific life stages are discussed here.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shelby A. Stewart

Shelby A. Stewart is a graduate student in the Psychology Department at Louisiana State University. Her research interests center around addictive behaviors and e-cigarette use in college students.

Amy L. Copeland

Amy L. Copeland is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. Her research interests focus on cognitive and affective variables in substance use initiation, maintenance, cessation, and relapse. She is primarily interested in licit (tobacco/nicotine) and illicit (cocaine, methamphetamine) psychomotor stimulants.

Katie E. Cherry

Katie E. Cherry is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. She is the Emogene Pliner Distinguished Professor of Aging Studies. Her research interests focus on late life cognition and healthy aging.