Background: Substance Use in Adolescent Development

Drug use is implicated in a number of developmental problems in adolescence: poor academic performance (Lynskey and Fergusson, 1995; McCluskey et al., 2002), sexual precocity (Elliott and Morse, 1989), aggression and violence (Brook, Whiteman, and Finch, 1992; Windle, 1990), gang involvement (Fagan, 1989), and mental distress and disorder (Cohen et al., 1990). Drug use is prevalent among American youth: 4.9 million youth between 12 and 17 years of age report using illicit substances in the past year, and more than 1 million of these youth have a substance dependence disorder (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2002). More than half of all 12th grade students report using illicit substances, and about one-quarter report using them in the past 30 days (Johnston, O’Malley, and Bachman, 2003). In addition, 28.5 percent of all high school students report being offered drugs, selling drugs, or obtaining drugs on school property in the past year (Grunbaum et al., 2002).

Recent advances in the understanding of adolescent development make these figures on substance use even more disturbing. It is now known that deviant careers have distinct patterns. Problem behaviors cluster together in time, and they often follow typical sequences of development over the life span. These patterns are often called pathways.¹ Although there is no universally accepted categorization of these patterns or pathways, the following generalizations about drug use and adolescent development are generally recognized:

• Substance use commonly follows a sequence from tobacco and alcohol to cannabis and then to more dangerous substances (Newcomb and Bentler, 1990; Rutter, 1996; Yamaguchi and Kandel, 1984a, 1984b).
  
  
• Beginning substance use and abuse in early adolescence is associated with:
  
  
  • More serious delinquency and longer deviant careers (Moffitt, 1993a; Craddock, Collins, and Timrots, 1994; Harrison and Gfroerer, 1992; Brook et al., 1996; Loeber, Stouthamer-Loeber, and White, 1999).
    
    
  • Antisocial personality disorders in later life (Myers, Stewart, and Brown, 1998; van den Bree, Svikis, and Pickens, 2000).
    
    
  • More numerous risk behaviors (Elliott and Morse, 1989; Pedersen and Hegna, 2003; Duncan, Strycker, and Duncan, 1999).
    
    
• Substance abuse is associated with poor academic performance (McCluskey et al., 2002).
  
  
• More severe substance abuse and dependence are associated with more serious criminal offenses in general (Elliott, Huizinga, and Menard, 1989; Mason and Windle, 2002).
  
  
• Substance use and abuse are associated with higher rates of psychiatric disorders and with more severe psychiatric disorders (Elliott, Huizinga, and Menard, 1989; Abram, Teplin, and McClelland, 2003; Brook, Cohen, and Brook, 1998; Deykin and Buka, 1997; Shedler and Block, 1990).

Although substance use is not thought to cause all of these problems, it is empirically associated with a number of problem behaviors and with adolescent delinquency in general. For this reason, the detection of substance use among juveniles in the justice system will help identify youth at greatest risk for serious problems and those most likely to benefit from treatment and diversion.

Detection and Prevalence of Substance Use Among Juvenile Detainees	OJJDP Bulletin • June 2004