Prescription drug use, misuse and related substance use disorder symptoms vary by educational status and attainment in U.S. adolescents and young adults

Nonmedical use of prescription drugs can pose a variety of serious public health threats. Rapid increases in the use of prescription drugs were observed at the turn of the 21st century and prompted new research and several actions by communities and policymakers. Adolescents and young adults are at heightened risk for this type of substance use. The evidence suggests that nonmedical use of prescription drugs overlaps significantly with alcohol and other drug problems, and it might be a sign of more severe involvement with illicit substance use. This chapter describes the epidemiology, availability and sources, motives, risk factors, and consequences of nonmedical prescription drug use among adolescents and young adults. Special topics include nonmedical use of prescription stimulants and academic performance, associations with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and mental health, and diversion behavior. Future directions for research and strategies for demand and supply reduction are described.

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Pattern and predictors of ambulatory care visits for substance use disorder (SUD) in adolescents and young adults

Value in Health ◽

10.1016/j.jval.2014.03.1240 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. A212

Author(s):

R.A. Medhekar ◽

H. Chen

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

Young Adults ◽

Ambulatory Care ◽

Substance Use Disorder ◽

Adolescents And Young Adults

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Prescription Drug Use Among Young Adults: Blaming the Victim

Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions ◽

10.1080/1533256x.2012.728117 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 446-448 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Richard Isralowitz

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

Drug Use ◽

Prescription Drug ◽

Prescription Drug Use

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Prescription Drugs

ASAM Handbook of Addiction Medicine ◽

10.1093/med/9780197506172.003.0013 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 293-312

Author(s):

Darius A. Rastegar

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

Prescription Drug ◽

Substance Use Disorder ◽

Prescription Drugs ◽

Muscle Relaxants ◽

Opioid Overdose ◽

Over The Counter ◽

Prescription Drug Use ◽

Nonmedical Use ◽

History Of

A variety of prescription and over-the-counter drugs are used for purposes other than intended. Approximately 2% of Americans report current nonmedical use of a prescription drug. Opioids are the class most commonly used for purposes other than intended. Other drugs include sedatives (primarily benzodiazepines); stimulants; and a variety of agents, including clonidine, muscle relaxants, tricyclic antidepressants, bupropion, antiemetics, gabapentinoids, and atypical antipsychotics. Over-the-counter drugs associated with nonmedical use include dextromethorphan, loperamide, and antihistamines. The most prominent risk factor for nonmedical use is a history of a substance use disorder. A number of aberrant behaviors are indicative of nonmedical use. Screening instruments may help gauge risk. The most serious complication is overdose, particularly opioid overdose. Strategies to address nonmedical prescription drug use include limiting the prescribing of controlled substances, monitoring patients who are prescribed these medications, and providing treatment for those who have a substance use disorder.

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Text message reminders as an adjunct to a substance use intervention for adolescents and young adults: Pilot feasibility and acceptability findings

Digital Health ◽

10.1177/2055207620965052 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 205520762096505

Author(s):

Frank J Schwebel ◽

Mary E Larimer

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

Young Adults ◽

Drug Use ◽

Text Messaging ◽

Text Message ◽

Text Messages ◽

Adolescents And Young Adults ◽

Message Content ◽

Acceptable Method ◽

Pilot Intervention

Objective Text messaging has been proposed as a method for increasing the reach of interventions for harmful alcohol and other drug use. This paper describes the design of an automated text messaging adjunct to a substance use intervention intended to support adolescents and young adults attempting to change their alcohol and other drug use behavior. Feasibility and acceptability testing was conducted as part of this pilot study. Method Five focus groups were conducted to refine text message content and finalize pilot intervention design. Automated, daily, substance use-related reminder text messages were sent to pilot intervention participants ( n = 39), who were recruited from outpatient treatment. Results Of those who were invited, 63% enrolled in the study and 89.7% remained enrolled in the study as measured by completing at least one assessment after baseline. Participants reported a positive experience with the messages, particularly supportive/empowering messages and commitment reminder messages. Conclusions These findings suggest that text messaging is a feasible and acceptable method for delivery of substance use-related reminder content as an adjunct to substance use intervention.

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Erratum to: Nonmedical prescription drug use among US young adults by educational attainment

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology ◽

10.1007/s00127-014-0994-x ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 50 (5) ◽

pp. 843-843

Author(s):

Silvia S. Martins ◽

June H. Kim ◽

Lian-Yu Chen ◽

Deysia Levin ◽

Katherine M. Keyes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

Drug Use ◽

Educational Attainment ◽

Prescription Drug ◽

Nonmedical Prescription Drug Use ◽

Prescription Drug Use

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Alcohol and Drug Problems

A Family Guide to Coping with Substance Use Disorders ◽

10.1093/med-psych/9780190926632.003.0001 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 3-16

Author(s):

Dennis C. Daley ◽

Antoine Douaihy

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

Drug Use ◽

Prescription Drug ◽

Substance Use Disorders ◽

Substance Use Disorder ◽

Illegal Drug ◽

Drug Misuse ◽

Prescription Drug Misuse ◽

Illegal Drug Use ◽

Drug Problems

A substance problem is any negative outcome from prescription drug misuse, illegal drug use, or binge drinking. These problems often lead to substance use disorders (SUDs). Any substance use can cause problems. The real issues are a person’s reasons for using, and whether that substance use is part of a substance use disorder. Family members often think of the drug as being the problem when it is really the person’s pattern of use and reasons for using that are the problems. Drugs come and go and are replaced by new ones all the time. SUDs and addiction are people problems that involve drugs.

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Comparison and validation of screening tools for substance use in pregnancy: a cross-sectional study conducted in Maryland prenatal clinics

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020248 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. e020248 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Victoria H Coleman-Cowger ◽

Emmanuel A Oga ◽

Erica N Peters ◽

Kathleen Trocin ◽

Bartosz Koszowski ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

Drug Use ◽

Pregnant Women ◽

Prescription Drug ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Screening Tools ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Prescription Drug Use ◽

The Usa

IntroductionPrescription-drug use in the USA has increased by more than 60% in the last three decades. Prevalence of prescription-drug use among pregnant women is currently estimated around 50%. Prevalence of illicit drug use in the USA is 14.6% among pregnant adolescents, 8.6% among pregnant young adults and 3.2% among pregnant adults. The first step in identifying problematic drug use during pregnancy is screening; however, no specific substance-use screener has been universally recommended for use with pregnant women to identify illicit or prescription-drug use. This study compares and validates three existing substance-use screeners for pregnancy—4 P’s Plus, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Quick Screen/Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) and the Substance Use Risk Profile-Pregnancy (SURP-P) scale.Methods and analysisThis is a cross-sectional study designed to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and usability of existing substance-use screeners. Recruitment occurs at two obstetrics clinics in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. We are recruiting 500 participants to complete a demographic questionnaire, NIDA Quick Screen/ASSIST, 4 P’s Plus and SURP-P (ordered randomly) during their regularly scheduled prenatal appointment, then again 1 week later by telephone. Participants consent to multidrug urine testing, hair drug testing and allowing access to prescription drug and birth outcome data from electronic medical records. For each screener, reliability and validity will be assessed. Test–retest reliability analysis will be conducted by examining the results of repeated screener administrations within 1 week of original screener administrations for consistency via correlation analysis. Furthermore, we will assess if there are differences in the validity of each screener by age, race and trimester.Ethics and disseminationThis study is approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Maryland (HP-00072042), Baltimore, and Battelle Memorial Institute (0619–100106433). All participants are required to give their informed consent prior to any study procedure.

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