Alcohol Abuse in Adolescence

• Bennett, Lindsay

• Hernandez, Rosa

• Kurlenda, Maria

• Laurain, Katie

Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol abuse affects teenagers of various backgrounds, social groups, and economic status. It has immediate health risks and long term effects that most individuals might be unaware of. It is an increasing problem where 8 out of 10, 15-year olds have all ready experimented with alcohol. The following topics will be addressed in this presentation:

• Social Ecological Model

• Statistics, health risk and factors

• Project ALERT

Demographics

• 12-15 year old adolescents

• Male and Female

• Various Ethnic Backgrounds

• Northern & Southern California

• South Dakota

Cultural Descriptors

• Peer Pressure

• This age group is less likely to seek treatment.

• Exposure to partners’ peer group

Social Ecological Model

The Social Ecological Model is a four level model.

• 1. The healthfulness of a situation and the well-being of its individuals are assumed to be influenced by both the physical and social environments as well as personal attributes of the individual

• 2. Environments are multidimensional and complex and can be described in physical and social terms; as objective or subjective (perceived), proximal or distal, and other attributes, such as noise, group size, and so on; or as constructs, such a social climate

Pender, N. J., Murdaugh, C. L., & Parsons, M. A. (2011). Health promotion in nursing practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Social Ecological Model Continued

• 3. Individuals; families; groups or organizations, such as schools; and populations

• 4. System theory concepts—including interdependence, homeostasis, and feedback—help understanding of the interrelationships between people and their environments

Pender, N. J., Murdaugh, C. L., & Parsons, M. A. (2011). Health promotion in nursing practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Social Ecological Model Continued

• When it comes to alcohol abuse in adolescents, the environment which a person grows up in has a huge influence.

• The people of a community all have an influence on one another as well as the socioeconomic status of the community.

Health Risks

• Immediate Health Risks• Injuries

• Violence

• Risky sexual behavior related to decreased inhibitions

• Alcohol poisoning

• Long Term Effects• Liver disease like Cirrhosis

• Pancreatitis

• Social problems with family and friends

Health Statistics

• “Alcohol misuse among adolescents is an increasing problem, with eight out of ten people aged 15 having already consumed alcohol” (Davies, 2012).

• “Analyses of data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions show that people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence during their lifetime than those who began drinking at age 21 or later” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention , 2013).

Center for Disease Control and Prevention Statistics

“The 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that among high school students, during the past 30 days

• 39% drank some amount of alcohol.

• 22% binge drank.

• 8% drove after drinking alcohol.

• 24% rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention , 2012b).

Binge Drinking

• “Almost four out of ten of those aged 13-14 who had reported drinking alcohol over the past week had consumed seven units or more; the same proportion of those aged 15-16 had consumed 14 units or more” (Davies, 2012).

Health Risk Factors

• “Alcohol also plays a significant role in risky sexual behavior and increases the risk of physical and sexual assault” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012b).

Environmental Risk Factors

• “Parents' drinking behavior and favorable attitudes about drinking have been positively associated with adolescents' initiating and continuing drinking” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000).

• “Children of alcoholics are significantly more likely than children of nonalcoholics to initiate drinking during adolescence (17) and to develop alcoholism (18), but the relative influences of environment and genetics have not been determined and vary among people” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000).

Community Risk Factors

• “A significant association between fathers’ occupation and adolescent alcohol consumption emerged at age 15. Overall adolescents from the lowest occupational group had almost twice the odds of being a large consumer than the highest occupational group. The association between father’s occupation and high alcohol consumption during adolescence was explained by the higher prevalence of familial alcohol problems and friends approving of alcohol consumption, lower intelligence scores, and lower parental attachment among adolescents from lower occupational groups” (Droomers et al., 2003).

Project ALERT

Plan of Action

• Initiate educational programs in local middle schools to prevent alcohol abuse• Drug/alcohol abuse prevention programs are

a key part in preventing drug/alcohol use

• Only 9% of schools are using programs that have been proven to be effective (Ellickson et al, 2003).

Project ALERT

• Recognized as one of the most exemplary drug and alcohol abuse programs for middle school students

• Motivates students against drug and alcohol abuse

• Gives them the skills to turn that motivation into effective resistance behavior (Ellickson et al, 2003).

Project ALERT cont.

• Classroom based substance abuse prevention program for 7th and 8th graders

• Accredited by the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices

• The entire program is FREE (Best Foundation, 2013).

How it works…

• Teachers are trained completely online which allows flexibility with time and scheduling

• Any teacher can be trained

• Training is free

• Teachers are given to access to:

• Handouts

• Lesson plans

• Posters

• Videos

• newsletters

(Best Foundation, 2013).

The program in action

• Total of 14 lessons taught in 7th grade

• Three booster lessons taught in 8th grade

• Lesson plans come with a variety of learning activities including:• Guided discussions

• Role-playing exercises

• Visual aides

• (Best Foundation, 2013).

(Ellickson et al, 2003).

Proven Results

Healthy People 2020

• Healthy People 2020 has a goal to “reduce substance abuse to protect the health, safety, and quality of life for all, especially children” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, overview, 2013).• Multiple goals for adolescents including:

• “Increase the proportion of at risk adolescents aged 12-17 years who, in the past year, refrained from using alcohol for the first time” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, objectives, 2013).

Healthy People 2020

• Substance abuse affects individuals, families, and communities. Substance abuse can lead to a variety of public health problems including:• Teen pregnancy

• HIV/AIDS and spread of other STDs

• Domestic and child abuse

• Motor vehicle accidents (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, overview, 2013).

Alcohol and drug use by adolescents 2002-2011

(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013).

In conclusion…

• Alcohol abuse in adolescents takes several factors into consideration such as environmental, economic status, and peer pressure.

• Education involving parents and the community can play a major role with reducing alcohol experimentation

• The Social Ecological model can be used to address and find interventions in the community for alcohol abuse within teenagers

• Project ALERT has been proven to be effective in reducing the number of teenagers who experiment with alcohol for the first time

• Nurses are in a position where we can educate others in helping this cause.

Best Foundation. (2013). Project ALERT: online brochure. Retrieved from ProjectALERT.com:

http://www.projectalert.com/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012a). Fact sheets-alcohol use and health. Retrieved from

http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012b). Underage Drinking. Retrieved from

http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm

Davies, N. J. (2012). Alcohol misuse in adolescents. Nursing Standard, 26(42), 43-48.

Reference

D’Amico, E. J., Ellickson, P. L., Wagner, E. F., Turrisi, R., Fromme, K., Ghosh-Dastidar, B., ... Wright, D.

(2005). Developmental considerations for substance use interventions from middle school through

college. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 29, 474. Retrieved from

http://dx.doi.org/10.109/01.ALC.0000156081.04560.78

Droomers, M., Schrijvers, C., Casswell, S., & Mackenbach, J. (2003). Occupational level of the father and

alcohol consumption during adolescence; patterns and predictors. Journal of Epidemiology &

Community Health, 57(9), 704-710.

Ellickson, P. L., McCaffrey, D. F., & Ghosh-Dastidar, B. (2003). New Inroads in Preventing Adolescent

Drug Use: Results from a Large-Scale Trial of Project ALERT in Middle Schools. American Journal

of Public Health, 93(11), 1830-1836

Kreager, D. A., Haynie, D. L., & Hopfer, S. (2012). Dating and substance use in adolescent peer networks: a

replication and extension. Addiction, 108, 638-647. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-

0443.2012.04095.x

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2013). 2020 topics and objectives> substance abuse.

Retrieved from HealthyPeople.gov:

http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicId=40.

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2012). Underage Drinking. Retrieved from

http://report.nih.gov/nihfactsheets/viewfactsheet.aspx?csid=21.

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2000). Alcohol Alert. Retrieved from

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa37.htm