Abstract
Evidence-based practice guidelines for drug use prevention with adolescents propose focusing on increasing protective factors and reducing risk factors associated with drug use. The present article reports on a qualitative study undertaken with 10 adolescent drug users and 29 non-users from a historically marginalised community in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The findings reveal peer risk and protective factors associated with drug use, and offer recommendations for how protective factors can be increased and peer risk factors mobilised as protective mechanisms and sources for promoting resilience in drug use prevention among adolescents.
Highlights
There are grave concerns, at both national and international levels, about adolescent drug abuse and its related effects, which can continue to impact on functional domains into adulthood
The primary objective of the present article is to illustrate the peer risk and protective factors associated with drug use and its implications for drug use prevention
THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The primary goal of this article is to highlight adolescent peer risk and protective factors associated with drug use from the perspective of the adolescent research participants
Summary
There are grave concerns, at both national and international levels, about adolescent drug abuse and its related effects, which can continue to impact on functional domains into adulthood. The percentage of high school learners who resisted the onset of illicit drug use increased from 46% to 53% These statistics provide a promising picture and may suggest that drug prevention efforts, in the USA, are yielding positive results. South Africa, on the other hand, has experienced a notable increase in drug use since the country’s transition from apartheid to democracy (Harker, Myers & Parry, 2008; Peltzer, Ramlagan, Johnson & Phaswana-Mafuya, 2010). This scourge, especially the earlier onset of drug use, has serious implications for adolescents and the country as a whole (South Africa, 2008)
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