Perceived Barriers and Enablers of Help-Seeking for Substance Use Problems During Adolescence

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonita J. Berridge ◽  
Terence V. McCann ◽  
Ali Cheetham ◽  
Dan I. Lubman
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Perceived Barriers ◽  
Professional Help ◽  
Barriers And Enablers ◽  
Substance Use Problems ◽  
Drug Problems ◽  
Informal Help

Aim. Receiving professional help early can reduce long-term harms associated with substance use. However, little is known about the factors that influence help-seeking for substance use problems during early-mid adolescence, prior to the emergence of disorder. Given that beliefs regarding help-seeking are likely to develop early, understanding adolescent views of help-seeking during this period is likely to provide important information for prevention and intervention efforts. The current study identifies perceptions that would facilitate or prevent adolescents from seeking support for substance use problems from formal and informal help sources. Method. Thirty-four 12- to 16-year-olds from two schools in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, were recruited. A qualitative interpretative design was used, incorporating semistructured, audio-recorded interviews. Results. Three overlapping themes that reflected barriers or enablers to help-seeking were identified: approachability, confidentiality and trustworthiness, and expertise. Help-seeking was facilitated when adolescents believed that the help source would be supportive and understanding, would keep information confidential, and had expertise in the alcohol and drug field. Conversely, adolescents were reluctant to seek help from sources they believed would be judgmental, lacked expertise, or would inform their parents. Conclusions. These findings highlight perceptions that may influence help-seeking for alcohol and drug problems during adolescence. Further research is needed to determine if help-seeking can be facilitated by improving parents’ and peers’ knowledge and promoting health professionals’ expertise in working with young people’s alcohol and drug issues.

scholarly journals Understanding the interplay of individual and social–developmental factors in the progression of substance use and mental health from childhood to adulthood

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 721-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany M. Jones ◽  
Karl G. Hill ◽  
Marina Epstein ◽  
Jungeun Olivia Lee ◽  
J. David Hawkins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Developmental Factors ◽  
Substance Use Problems ◽  
History Of ◽  
Individual Functioning ◽  
Family History Of Depression ◽  
History Of Depression

AbstractThis study examines the interplay between individual and social–developmental factors in the development of positive functioning, substance use problems, and mental health problems. This interplay is nested within positive and negative developmental cascades that span childhood, adolescence, the transition to adulthood, and adulthood. Data are drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project, a gender-balanced, ethnically diverse community sample of 808 participants interviewed 12 times from ages 10 to 33. Path modeling showed short- and long-term cascading effects of positive social environments, family history of depression, and substance-using social environments throughout development. Positive family social environments set a template for future partner social environment interaction and had positive influences on proximal individual functioning, both in the next developmental period and long term. Family history of depression adversely affected mental health functioning throughout adulthood. Family substance use began a cascade of substance-specific social environments across development, which was the pathway through which increasing severity of substance use problems flowed. The model also indicated that adolescent, but not adult, individual functioning influenced selection into positive social environments, and significant cross-domain effects were found in which substance-using social environments affected subsequent mental health.

scholarly journals MAKINGtheLINK: A school-based intervention to improve help-seeking for substance use problems

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 915-921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan I. Lubman ◽  
Ali Cheetham ◽  
Bonita J. Berridge ◽  
Lisa McKay-Brown
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
School Based Intervention ◽  
School Based ◽  
Substance Use Problems

Psychosocial Therapies for Substance Use Disorders

2019 ◽  
pp. 41-52
Author(s):  
Dennis C. Daley ◽  
Antoine Douaihy
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Substance Use Disorders ◽  
Psychosocial Interventions ◽  
Alcohol Problems ◽  
Support Programs ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Mutual Support ◽  
Professional Treatment ◽  
Drug Problems

There are many counseling approaches, treatment programs, and psychosocial interventions for individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs). Although some have been shown in clinical trials to be more effective than others, to date there is no single, superior treatment approach appropriate for all clients. While brief treatments have been successful with alcohol problems, longer term treatments are often needed for drug problems. For clients with more severe SUDs, long-term involvement in professional treatment (including medication-assisted therapies), mutual support programs, or both may be needed. This chapter includes a summary of treatment principles and guidelines that can serve as a framework for helping clients with SUDs.

From Enabling to Bootstrapping: Welfare Workers' Views of Substance Abuse and Welfare Reform

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Dohan ◽  
Laura Schmidt ◽  
Stuart Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Substance Abuse ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
The United States ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Substance Use Problems ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
New Policies ◽  
Drug Problems ◽  
Welfare Workers

In the United States, a trope of “deservingness” shapes policy related to public aid and substance abuse. In recent decades, poor people with substance use problems have increasingly been seen as “undeserving.” Federal welfare reform, passed in the mid-1990s, is an important exemplar of this trend. Welfare reform empowered line workers to directly and indirectly withhold aid from people with substance use problems. This paper uses in-depth interviews with workers to explore their views of these new policies. Workers generally applauded welfare reform's renewed attention to deservingness, including program emphases on client self-sufficiency and personal accountability and policies that time-limited cash aid and mandated working. They felt that these changes allowed them to stop “enabling” substance abuse and to encourage clients with alcohol and drug problems to bootstrap their way into jobs. Workers' embrace of these policy changes appears likely to shape how substance abuse problems are addressed within the welfare system.

scholarly journals Professional Help-Seeking for Adolescent Dating Violence in the Rural South: The Role of Social Support and Informal Help-Seeking

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 1442-1461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmine M. Hedge ◽  
Natallia Sianko ◽  
James R. McDonell
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Dating Violence ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Perceived Social Support ◽  
Teen Dating Violence ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Adolescent Dating Violence ◽  
Professional Help ◽  
Adolescent Dating ◽  
Informal Help

Structural equation modeling with three waves of data was used to assess a mediation model investigating the relationship between perceived social support, informal help-seeking intentions, and professional help-seeking intentions in the context of adolescent dating violence. The sample included 589 adolescents from a rural, southern county who participated in a longitudinal study of teen dating violence victimization and perpetration. Results suggest that informal help-seeking intentions are an important link between perceived social support and professional help-seeking intentions. Findings highlight the importance of informal help-seeking and informal help-giving in fostering professional help-seeking for adolescent victims and perpetrators of dating violence.

Introduction and Plan for This Workbook

2019 ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Dennis C. Daley ◽  
Antoine Douaihy
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Mutual Support ◽  
Drugs And Alcohol ◽  
Multiple Factors ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Substance Use Problems ◽  
Drug Problems

In this workbook, the authors provide information about substance use problems, recovery, relapse, professional treatments available, and mutual support programs. Substance use problems are problems with alcohol, tobacco, or any other type of drug. Problems may show in binge drinking, drug misuse (using illicit drugs, using other people’s prescription drugs with addiction potential, mixing drugs or drugs and alcohol in ways that are risky) or a substance use disorder (SUD). Although there are differences among the various substance use problems, there are also many similarities. The goals of this chapter are to become aware of current trends in substance use, misuse, and substance use disorders; to learn the multiple factors contributing to a substance use problem; to identify the different paths and benefits to recovery; to understand the benefits of using this workbook in therapy or counseling; and to learn the importance of keeping records and completing recovery worksheets.

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