U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Mental Health Status of Infrequent Adolescent Substance Users

NCJ Number
208639
Journal
Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse Volume: 14 Issue: 2 Dated: 2004 Pages: 41-60
Author(s)
Robert J. Williams; Theresa Zolner; Lorne D. Bertrand; R. Meghan Davis
Editor(s)
Vincent B. Van Hasselt Ph.D., Brad Donohue Ph.D.
Date Published
2004
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This Canadian study examined the relationship between an adolescent’s infrequent substance use and mental health.
Abstract
Previous studies support the hypothesis that adolescent populations with frequent substance use tend to have co-occurrences of mental health problems. However, there is less support available on the relationship between infrequent or occasional substance use and mental health. The duel purpose of this study was to investigate the concurrent relationship between frequency of substance use and mental health in adolescent from Alberta, Canada and to examine this relationship in a thorough and comprehensive manner. Data were collected from nine school districts, reflecting both urban and rural environments of the Alberta student population. The study consisted of 2,118 students, ages 12 to 19 completing the “Youth and Family Lifestyle Survey containing 260 questions. Consistent with previous research, the study found a tendency for frequent substance use to be associated with poorer mental health status. The relationship between infrequent substance use and mental health was more complex. The results were dependent on the substance being used, the frequency of use, and the age of the user. Occasional use of some substances did not appear to have negative mental health associations. Study limitations are presented and discussed. Figures, tables, and references