“Analyzing the Relationships Between Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders in American Adolescents, Aged 12 to 25, Using a Quantitative, Correlational Design”

Authors

Jacob M. Rodriguez, St. Mary's University
Carolyn Tubbs, St.Mary's University

Files

Contributor

Dr. Carolyn Y. Tubbs

Digital Publisher

Digital Commons at St. Mary's University

Publication Date

Spring 2025

Keywords

mental health disorders; National Institute on Drug Abuse

Description

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “many people with substance use disorders also have another mental illness, and vice versa” (NIDA, 2024a). Because there is a bidirectional relationship between mental disorders and substance abuse, individuals who suffer from mental disorders are susceptible to the development of substance abuse disorders. The percentage of adolescents using substances in 2023 is like the percentage in pre-pandemic 2020, with approximately “10.9% of eighth graders, 19.8% of 10th graders, and 31.2% of 12th graders” reporting drug use in the past year (NIDA, 2024b). Welsh et al. (2017), reported significant relationships between mental health disorders and the use of various substances in some adolescent populations. Like adults, adolescents struggling with mental health disorder disorders are more likely to self-medicate with an illicit substance. This research sought to further explore these relationships in a national sample of adolescents, i.e., individuals between the ages of 12 and 25

Format

pdf

Size

1 page

City

San Antonio, Texas

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.