Alcohol and substance use between the ages of 10-19 is an important problem that threatens children and young people in our country, as well as in the world. Adolescents, who are in a developmental transition period, resort to substance use in order to be accepted by their friends and to become like adults. Substance use emerges as a reaction and addiction as a result of familial and internal tensions and conflicts experienced by adolescents. Moreover, the adolescent goes through a period when he wants to try different things and have fun.
Cigarettes and alcohol lead the way in substance use among adolescents, and are almost accepted by society. This situation has also begun to be valid for cannabis. Adolescents who smoke and drink alcohol are also more likely to use other substances. While boys turn to performance-enhancing drugs to look physically strong, girls may use amphetamine group drugs to lose weight. In addition, ecstasy pills, heroin, hallucinogenic substances and volatile substance use are observed in adolescents with low economic income. As time passes, the ease of access to substances and the amount of substance use increase. Substance use is the cause of many negative situations, including suicide, involvement in crime, unsafe sex, unwanted pregnancy, violence, traffic accidents, and even murder.
Risk factors that cause substance use are genetic factors, familial factors, psychological and personal factors, It can be listed as friend factor and social structure.
According to studies on genetic factors related to smoking and alcohol use, it seems that this factor is important in smoking and alcohol use. For substance use, alcohol use in the family increases the likelihood, but sufficient environmental factors must be present. In addition, people who have directly witnessed substance use in the family or who have been exposed to addictive substances during pregnancy are at risk for substance use.
As friendship relations gain importance during adolescence, an increase in substance use is also observed. If adolescents are in a group of friends who use substances, they may start using substances in order to gain a place in the group and be accepted. The rate of starting to use substances is also higher among adolescents who spend more time with their friends than their families. ha is high.
Adolescents who have not gained basic trust and love from their families in early childhood may use substances to get rid of their unhappiness and anxiety or to suppress them. Depression in adolescents can also lead to substance use. Although it cannot be said that all substance addicts have a mental disorder, many mental health disorders lead to substance use. In addition, individuals who see pleasure as development and who can easily take risks for this purpose and who are insufficient to say no are also at risk for substance use.
According to social control theory, social relations are of great importance in the development of adolescents. . The decrease in the adolescent's interaction with factors such as society, family and school paves the way for substance use. Another danger in the social structure is the media. Substances that are shown as attractive in mass media cause incorrect learning in adolescents (Karatay, 2008).
Familial factors in substance use are related to parental attitudes. In the research conducted on the subject, it was seen that there was a significant relationship between parental attitudes and smoking, and the highest smoking rate was in adolescents who were approached with an indifferent and permissive attitude. Likewise, alcohol use is most common in children from indifferent and permissive families. Children of families with sweet, firm and competent attitudes have the lowest alcohol use rate. When looking at the relationship between drug use and family attitudes, it is seen that the rate of drug use in children from indifferent permissive families and authoritarian and oppressive families is higher than in other families (Ulusoy et al., 2005)
Read: 0
