New research suggests playing with dogs can improve the mood of teens being treated for drug or alcohol abuse in a residential treatment center. Dog therapy may help stimulate the release of the feel-good chemical dopamine in the brain, the researchers say.
Teens who are cyberbullied are more likely than their peers who are not harassed online or through cell phone messages to develop symptoms of substance abuse, depression and Internet addiction, a new study concludes.
Taking medication to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in childhood does not affect the risk of substance abuse later in life, according to a new study. Earlier research indicated children who took ADHD drugs had a reduced risk of substance abuse, The New York Times reports.
Strong connections with parents who advise against drug use reduce teens’ risk of abusing prescription drugs, a new study finds.
A Kentucky law allows parents to petition the court to order involuntary drug treatment for their adult children, USA Today reports. Other concerned people may also file a petition under Casey’s Law.
Almost one-quarter of parents do not think they can influence their teens’ use of alcohol, drugs or tobacco, according to a new government report. Nine percent of parents say they did not talk to their teens about the dangers of substance abuse in the past year.
More than half of internal medicine residents at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston say they were not adequately trained in addiction and other substance use disorders, according to a new survey.
Only 1 percent of parents believe their teens have used attention-deficit hyperactivity drugs to help them study, but 10 percent of high school students have done so, a new nationwide poll suggests.
Schools, parents and civic organizations around the country are trying to attract high school students to alcohol-free supervised events after their prom, Reuters reports. Some are offering expensive door prizes including iPads and even cars.
Addiction to drugs, alcohol and tobacco are the most common mental health problems in teenagers, a new government report concludes. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is the most commonly diagnosed problem overall in youth ages 3 to 17.
Pregnant teens, who are more likely than pregnant adults to face medical issues, face a host of additional challenges if they are also being treated for substance abuse, a new government report finds.
Older teens and young adults with mental health issues who participate in community-based treatment programs report lower levels of substance use disorders, a new government report finds.
Synthetic marijuana was the third-most abused substance by U.S. high school students last year, behind alcohol and marijuana, according to the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Parents’ smoking behavior influences their teens’ decisions about cigarette use throughout high school, a new study suggests. Peer pressure to smoke is greater during middle school than high school, according to researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
Legislators in Colorado are considering a measure that would create a task force to look at whether gun restrictions should be instituted for people with substance abuse problems or mental illness.
Young adults who receive health insurance through their parents’ plans because of the Affordable Care Act are more likely to use the coverage to treat substance abuse, mental illness or pregnancy, compared with their peers who already had coverage, a new report finds.
Having a parent deployed in the military may increase the risk of substance abuse in teens and preteens, a new study suggests.
Adults with a substance use disorder or mental illness smoke almost 40 percent of cigarettes in the United States, a new government study finds.
Abuse of the anesthesia drug propofol is on the rise among health care professionals who have easy access to it, a new study suggests.
Middle school students who date report using twice as much alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, compared with their classmates without romantic relationships, a new study finds.
Military researchers are studying ways to reduce substance abuse among service members, their families and veterans, a Defense Department official said this week. “We’re doing a great job with those physical wounds,” said Dr. Michael E. Kilpatrick. The military now wants to focus on the invisible wounds of war, he added.
A new study finds people with mental illness who also have a substance use disorder are nine times more likely than the general population to be murdered. Overall, people with mental illness were almost five times as likely to be a murder victim, compared with those with no psychiatric diagnosis.
Random drug testing of middle-school students may help prevent substance abuse, a six-year study of New Jersey students suggests.
A new study links substance abuse, early exposure to violence and chaotic family life, to teenage violence in one Denver neighborhood. The study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is part of a five-year effort to classify risk factors that promote teen violence.
A new study links the number of sex partners young adults have with their subsequent risk of developing alcohol or marijuana dependence disorders. The study found young women who had more than two or three sex partners when they were 18 to 20 years old were nearly 10 times more likely than those with one or no sexual partner to develop a substance dependence problem at age 21.
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