Research that the authors report in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy -- a peer-reviewed journal -- shows that adolescents abusing substances cause "stress-related symptoms" in parents (Yuen, et al., 2011, p. 250). The stress parents experience includes: depression, anxiety, fear of danger, guilt, anger, despair as well as grief associated with failure in the parental role" (Yuen, 250). And so prior to bringing parents into intervention strategies (to assist with their children's abuse issues) -- which has been proven to be effective in many previous studies -- Yuen explains that parents may need training in terms of allowing them to become "…more emotionally independent from their adolescents' behavior" (259).
A peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Traumatic Stress (Kingston, et al., 2009, p. 65) reports that the "Cumulative exposure to multiple traumatic events" -- child sexual abuse (CSA), for example -- has been linked to "…earlier ages of substance use initiation." Other traumatic experiences that very young children may have encountered ("…physical assault, sexual assault, a serious accident… [or] injury" or an incident that caused "physical damage" to the child) can lead to an early experimentation with drugs and alcohol (Kingston, 66).
Counselors working with adolescents that are abusing drugs and alcohol should if at all possible be aware of earlier traumatic events; these childhood events "predict" later abuse and moreover, linked to the later abuse of substances is "risky behaviors" (driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs) which can cause serious injury or death to the adolescent (Kingston, 66). Looking closely into the research Kingston and colleague have done shows a vicious cycle: a) child is physically or sexually...
The key to helping adolescents become healthy and happy individuals in their adulthood is to get them into worthy counseling programs; and in that context, knowing the details of unpleasant or traumatic experiences adolescents endured during their childhood is also pivotal to the success of the intervention.
Works Cited
Brewster, Karin L., and Tillman, Kathryn Harker. (2012). Sexual Orientation and Substance
Abuse Among Adolescents and Young Adults. American Journal of Public Health, 102(6),
1168-1179.
Gingerich, Wallace J., and Wabeke, Todd. (2001). A Solution-Focused Approach to Mental
Health Intervention in School Settings. Children & Schools, 23(1), 33-40.
Kingston, Sharon, and Raghavan, Chitra. (2009). The Relationship of Sexual Abuse, Early
Initiation of Substance Use, and Adolescent Trauma to PTSD. Journal of Traumatic Stress,
22(1), 65-68.
Smith, Janet G., and Ricard, Robert L. (2007). The Efficacy of a Systematic Substance Abuse
Program for Adolescent Females. Professional School Counseling, 10(5), 1-15.
Yuen, Eva, and Toumbourou, John W. (2011). Does Family Intervention for Adolescent
Substance Use Impact Parental Wellbeing? A Longitudinal Evaluation. The Australian
And New Zealand Journal of Family…
