Existing research on opioid misuse and child outcomes is scattered across subfields and nascent compared to scholarship regarding consequences for adults. This scoping review synthesizes studies examining postnatal consequences of parent opioid misuse for children. Findings from 52 studies showed a descriptive connection between parental opioid misuse and a range of adverse child outcomes including accidental poisonings, psychopathology, and child welfare system contact. It was unclear if connections between opioid misuse and child outcomes were due to opioids specifically or to related risk factors. Studies comparing opioids to other substances were inconclusive and few studies measured potential parenting mechanisms that may explain the association between opioid misuse and child outcomes.

Chronic cannabis use among adolescents is associated with many adverse health effects. One group of adolescents at the highest risk for chronic use are those involved in the juvenile justice system. While cannabis use disorder (CUD) screening tools have recently become briefer, ideally a single-item measure could be used to efficiently identify those who likely meet the criteria for CUD. These analyses aimed to determine whether a cut score, based on the frequency of cannabis use in the past year, could predict whether participants met the criteria for CUD among a sample of juvenile detainees (n = 189). DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for CUD were mapped onto current DSM-V criteria to determine a diagnosis. Two CUD severity cut scores were explored: (1) a cut score that distinguished those with no CUD or mild CUD from those who have a moderate or severe CUD, and (2) a cut score that distinguishes those with no, mild, or moderate CUD from those who have severe CUD. t-Tests revealed significant differences in the number of cannabis use days in the past year by both sets of CUD comparison categories. When predicting none/mild vs. moderate/severe CUD, the optimal cut score was found to be ≥24 cannabis use days; for no/mild/moderate vs. severe CUD, the optimal cut score was ≥57 days. Hierarchical regression demonstrated the addition of cannabis use days provided significant incremental validity beyond the proportion of friends who use substances when predicting diagnostic symptom count. This 1-item cannabis screener is an effective tool to quickly determine the need for further assessment of CUD.

Adolescents’ substance use disorders (SUD) and adolescents’ internet use disorders (IUD) have adverse health impacts on adolescents. For example, adolescents’ SUD adverse outcomes have included psychiatric disorders, criminal involvement, school truancy, unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and physical health problems. Researchers have indicated that some of adolescents’ IUD adverse outcomes are depression, social withdrawal, anxiety, loneliness, decreased sleep, decreased physical activity, poor preparation for college, impaired self-esteem, increased risk for suicide, insecurity, and substance use disorders. Surprisingly, little research attention has been given to the impact of adolescents’ IUD on adolescents’ SUD. The purpose of this article is to describe the impact of adolescents’ IUD on adolescents’ SUD, to discuss the impact of adolescents’ IUD and adolescents’ SUD on gender, and to present research that suggests there is a need for home-based ecological treatments for adolescent females with SUD and IUD. Lessons learned will be presented after each of the aforementioned areas.

This study examined whether behavioral dysregulation moderated associations between individual contextual factors (i.e. psychological control, peer delinquency, peer victimization, and negative life events) and the past 30-day frequency of specific substance use (i.e. tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, e-cigarettes, and prescription drugs) in a sample of recently detained youth. Patterns of associations varied among substances, with peer delinquency being the contextual risk factor most robustly associated with the frequency of various substances. Behavioral dysregulation did not moderate these associations, with the exception of psychological control; psychological control was only positively associated with prescription drug use when levels of behavioral dysregulation were low.

The current study sought to examine the comorbidity of substance misuse and a mental health problem among adolescents and young adults, aged 15–24. It also sought to examine racial/ethnic disparities in substance abuse treatment completion among non-Hispanic White, African American, and Hispanic youths with and without a psychiatric comorbidity. The 2014 Treatment Episode Data Set – Discharges (TEDS-D) was used (N = 207,578). Results show that 32.6% of youths entering substance abuse treatment had a psychiatric problem and only 34.8% of all youths completed treatment. Racial/ethnic disparities were found between youths with and without a psychiatric comorbidity in treatment completion.

Some adolescents are at great risk for early attrition from inpatient substance abuse treatment. We aimed to examine the effect of sociodemographic features, substance use patterns, childhood traumas and trauma-related psychopathology on the completion of an adolescent substance abuse inpatient treatment program in order to acquire information about adapting treatment strategies to enhance patient retention. Our study included 105 adolescents who were referred with a diagnosis of substance use disorder to our Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Center's inpatient treatment program in Istanbul, Turkey from February to December 2017. The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Conners-Wells Adolescent Self Report Scale, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Childhood Abuse and Neglect Question List, the Dependency Profile Index-Practitioner Form and the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale were administered to the study group. The treatment completion rate was 26.7%. The patients who did not complete the inpatient treatment program had more history of childhood emotional neglect and/or abuse. The most common type of psychosocial trauma was emotional neglect (34%). Early attrition from the inpatient treatment program was related to dissociative amnesia, more severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression and synthetic cannabinoids use (p < 0.05). Our findings indicate that childhood psychosocial trauma and related clinical characteristics were associated with attrition from the adolescent inpatient substance abuse treatment program. Substance abuse treatment programs should adopt early assessment tools to identify those at risk for early attrition from treatment and provide targeted interventions for them.

The role of the family, parenting behaviors, and parent-child relations continue to be a focal point for explaining deviant behavior. An area of research within this field that has been garnering increasing attention is the relationship between growing up in out-of-home care, health and well-being, and substance use. This study uses a sample of 1,170 youth from the Ontario Looking After Children (OnLAC) (AAR-C2-2016) project data to investigate the effects of placement type, placement disruption, behavioral characteristics, and parent-child relations on marijuana and alcohol use among a sample of youth preparing to emancipate from care. The results of multinomial logistic regression models indicate that unsupervised living placements, instability, low caregiver attachment, and self-control are all important factors that influence levels of substance use among this population. The policy implications associated with these findings are relevant to service providers and child welfare professionals as programs aimed toward youth successfully transitioning out of care remains a priority.

Research is limited on geographic differences in substance use risk factors among juvenile justice-involved girls. This secondary data analysis from one state juvenile justice system, collected as part of the NIH/NIDA funded JJTRIALS cooperative agreement, assessed criminogenic needs at intake for 160 girls from metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. Although girls from different geographic areas did not differ significantly on key variables of interest, including substance use risk and related criminality variables, findings suggest that substance use risk is related to criminal history, substance-related offenses, and relationship problems among justice-involved girls. Implications include gender-specific juvenile justice programming and research.

A 16 year old Caucasian male presented for initial mental health visit at an outpatient community psychiatry clinic. Two years prior, he found his father dead after overdosing on heroin. Since this time, he has been involved in numerous altercations with peers. He began using high doses of alprazolam daily after his father’s death. He adopted an urban culture and changed his body language, style of clothing and vernacular. His behavioral changes and substance use after his father’s death is due to psychological, sociological and biological factors, which are explored in this case report. Psychosocial factors include peer and parental mimicry along with attachment styles and biological causes include epigenetics relationship to post traumatic stress disorder responses.

Background Friends play an important role in cigarette and cannabis usage during adolescence. However, family is also a factor insofar as it can expose an adolescent to the development of consumption, or protect them from it. Experimentation with, and consumption of, these substances comes about within a specific relationship configuration: that of a somewhat conflictual relationship between young people and their parents. Methods The study was conducted in the Paris area (France) among 15–18-year-olds enrolled at school, with whom we conducted 93 biographical interviews (representing 483 person-years of retrospective observation). Results The consumption of cigarettes or cannabis is influenced by relationships with peers and meet-ups with friends (especially at weekends), as well as within the protective school environment. The relationship between adolescent consumption and parental attitude is two-way; consumption can be considered as much a cause of conflict as it is a consequence. Conclusions First, a product-based approach (tobacco or cannabis) is less fruitful than an approach of entry to addiction by life events. Secondly, analysis of both parent-adolescent conflicts and outings with friends seem to be powerful levers of action in preventing take-up of cigarettes and cannabis. Keypoints In the course of adolescence, behaviors in the consumption of cigarettes or cannabis connect with the relational context in which young people evolve at school community level The product-based approach (tobacco or cannabis) is less effective than an approach through analysis of both the conflicts and the nature of peer group meet-ups Analysis of parent-adolescent conflicts and control of meet-ups seem to be powerful levers of action for prevention of embarking on the use of products The Ageven grid for the description of life events is an innovative tool used to analyses a situation within the community as well as for the development of primary prevention