Talking about substance use with your teen is never easy. Between normal adolescent experimentation, peer pressure, academic stress and social media influences, parents often wonder when they should be concerned about substance use.<\/p>\n
Substance use among young people can’t be characterized simply in terms of what’s “normal” as opposed to what’s “problematic”. There are a range of substance use behaviours, from experimenting with a substance only once to engaging in regular use that becomes central to a person’s life: this is known as the substance use trajectory.<\/p>\n
This article will help parents:<\/p>\n
Statistics show that experimenting with substances is relatively frequent among adolescents, but that only a minority engage in problematic substance use.<\/p>\n
According to the Enqu\u00eate qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise sur le tabac, l’alcool, la drogue et le jeu chez les \u00e9l\u00e8ves du secondaire (ETADJES)<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n However, only a fraction of adolescents reported engaging in excessive or repeated substance use.<\/p>\n In Canada, hospital statistics indicate that nearly 70% of hospital stays for harm caused by substance use among youth involved care for a concurrent mental health condition.<\/a><\/p>\n These figures highlight an important fact: substance use among adolescents is often associated with broader mental health or well-being issues.<\/p>\n\t What the research shows<\/strong><\/p>\n Addiction studies show<\/a> that several factors can influence substance use among adolescents:<\/p>\n Some studies have also shown that adolescents with behavioural or emotional disorders are at greater risk of early alcohol, tobacco or cannabis use.<\/p>\n\t Not all adolescents who experiment with drugs or alcohol will go on to develop a substance use problem. Most will probably never go beyond the experimentation stage.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, substance use can evolve, as outlined below:<\/p>\n One sign is not enough to conclude that your adolescent has a substance use problem, but you want to pay close attention to persistent changes in an adolescent’s behaviour or actions<\/a>. \u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Changes in behaviour<\/strong><\/p>\n Physical signs<\/strong><\/p>\n Material signs<\/strong><\/p>\n What the research says<\/strong><\/p>\n According to several studies<\/a>, adolescents with substance use problems commonly exhibit:<\/p>\n Substance use can, therefore, be an attempt to regulate emotions rather than a recreational activity.<\/p>\n\t Research shows certain factors can increase or reduce the risk of developing a substance use problem.<\/p>\n Risk factors<\/strong><\/p>\n Protective factors<\/strong><\/p>\n Protective factors play a major role: sharing a strong bond with a parent is one of the best preventative factors.<\/p>\n Fear or punishment-based approaches have shown limited success. Adolescents are usually more responsive to approaches that combine listening, guidance and information.<\/p>\n A simple 3-step intervention method for parents <\/strong><\/p>\n See our document: <\/em>Teens and drug use: talking to them about substance use<\/em><\/a> for more information (see pages 17\u00a0to 21)<\/em><\/p>\n\t You may want to consult a professional if:<\/p>\n Asking for help<\/a> early on can often prevent the situation from getting worse.<\/p>\n Addiction services are also part of the care trajectory.<\/p>\n The trajectory can include:<\/p>\n Specialized centres like those operated by Portage mainly intervene in situations where substance use has become a problem and requires structured, intensive support that is generally offered in a therapeutic setting.<\/p>\n Their approach is based on:<\/p>\n If you are concerned about your teen’s substance use, several resources can direct you to the appropriate services.<\/p>\n Addiction Resources \u00a0(MSSS)<\/strong><\/p>\n https:\/\/msss.gouv.qc.ca\/repertoires\/dependances\/<\/a><\/p>\n Support Services<\/strong><\/p>\n Canadian Institute for Health Information\u00a0 Hospital Stays for Harm Caused by Substance Use Among Youth Age 10 to 24.<\/a><\/p>\n Wallingford, S., Konefal, S., & Young, M. \u00a0\u00a0Cannabis Use, Harms and Perceived Risks among Canadian Students: Technical Report. \u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Leyton, M., & Stewart, S. (2014)\u00a0 \u00a0Substance Abuse in Canada: Childhood and Adolescent Pathways to Substance Use Disorders (Report).<\/a><\/p>\n Public Health Agency of Canada (2018) Preventing Problematic Substance Use in Youth\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\nLaventure, M. et al. (2015) <\/p>\n Share this article:<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on Facebook\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on Linkedin\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Talking about substance use with your teen is never easy. Between normal adolescent experimentation, peer pressure, academic stress and social media influences, parents often wonder when they should be concerned about substance use. Substance use among young people can’t be characterized simply in terms of what’s “normal” as opposed to what’s “problematic”. There are a… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":48015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[178,175,285,289],"class_list":["post-48005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-addiction","tag-adolescents","tag-family","tag-harm-reduction"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48005"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48020,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48005\/revisions\/48020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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Understanding the substance use trajectory<\/h3>\n
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Signs of abusive substance use<\/h3>\n
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Risk factors and protective factors<\/h3>\n
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How to intervene without harming your relationship<\/h3>\n
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When should you ask for help?<\/h3>\n
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Portage’s place in the care trajectory<\/h3>\n
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Resources and Support<\/h3>\n
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References and resources (to learn more)<\/h3>\nETADJES (2019)
\nEnqu\u00eate qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise sur le tabac, l’alcool, la drogue et le jeu chez les \u00e9l\u00e8ves du secondaire.<\/a>\n
\nConsommation de psychotropes chez les enfants ayant des troubles ext\u00e9rioris\u00e9s.<\/a>\nDe Wever, E. & Quaglino, V. (2017)
\nFacteurs psychologiques dans le binge drinking chez les jeunes.<\/a>\nDorard, G., Bungener, C. & Berthoz, S. (2012)
\nUsage de substances chez l’adolescent suivi en addictologie.<\/a>\nLambert, G. et al. (2015)
\nConsommation probl\u00e9matique et comportements sexuels \u00e0 risque.<\/a>\nBrunelle, N. et al. (2015)
\nActivit\u00e9s et types de jeux reli\u00e9s aux probl\u00e8mes de consommation de substances chez les jeunes<\/a>\nPoulin, M.H. et al. (2020)
\nConsommation chez les jeunes autistes.\nGuichard, A. et al. (2020)
\nRepenser la r\u00e9duction des m\u00e9faits \u00e0 l’\u00e8re du num\u00e9rique pour les jeunes consommateurs<\/a>\nINSPQ (2012)
\nLa pr\u00e9vention chez les jeunes – la r\u00e9duction des risques<\/a>\nLaventure, M., Boisvert, K., & Besnard, T. (2010)
\nProgrammes de pr\u00e9vention universelle et\u00a0cibl\u00e9e de la toxicomanie \u00e0 l’adolescence\u00a0: recension des facteurs pr\u00e9dictifs de l’efficacit\u00e9<\/a>\nBertrand, K. et al. (2006)
\nGuide de pratique en intervention pr\u00e9coce en d\u00e9pendance aupr\u00e8s des jeunes de 12 \u00e0 25 ans<\/a>\nCattin, M. (2011)
\nAdolescence et addiction.<\/a>\nLaventure, M. et al. (2017)
\nAdolescents d\u00e9pendants ou \u00e0 risque de le devenir : pratiques d’intervention prometteuses.<\/a>\n\n\t\t\tRELATED CONTENT\t<\/h3>\n\t