{"id":81880,"date":"2022-12-09T11:43:54","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T11:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=81880"},"modified":"2022-12-22T18:52:11","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T18:52:11","slug":"todays-adolescent-substances-of-choice-may-be-harder-for-adults-to-detect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/todays-adolescent-substances-of-choice-may-be-harder-for-adults-to-detect\/","title":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s adolescent substances of choice may be harder for adults to detect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Dec. 9, 2022 \u2013 Despite advances in technology and availability, one of the best ways for parents and health care providers to prevent or help stop adolescent substance use is still an old-fashioned conversation, according to a new Viewpoint published<\/a> in the November issue of The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health<\/em>. The piece, written by a team of 溏心vlog免费B站 trainees under Prochaska Endowed Professor Sarah Feldstein Ewing<\/a>, stresses that relying on detection through informal observation\u00ad \u2014 as parents and providers have commonly done with alcohol and tobacco use\u00ad\u00ad \u2014 is quickly becoming a thing of the past. The paper provides health care professionals and parents concrete steps for screening, detection and intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The past decade has seen a global surge in adolescent use of e-cigarettes\/vaping, cannabis, and prescription opioids not-taken-as-prescribed. This surge has been aided, in some cases, by entirely new methods of substance use and delivery\u2014 such as cannabis edibles and vaping \u2014 as well as youths\u2019 lower perceptions of harm, and\/or greater accessibility. These substances have \u201cinvisible symptoms\u201d to adults and, in turn, can be much harder-to-detect by parents, caregivers, and health care providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sarah
A team of 溏心vlog免费B站 trainees working under Prochaska Endowed Professor Sarah Feldstein Ewing authored a Viewpoint recently published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Healt<\/em>h.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is so different today than in past generations is that parents and providers could really rely on what we traditionally think of as obvious signs to tell if kids were using. Did they come home smelling like cigarettes or cannabis? Is there alcohol on their breath? Are they slurring their speech?\u201d said Feldstein Ewing. \u201cWhile some of these things still work, where we run into trouble today is that, more and more, the substances that kids are using are just not as easy to spot. And, the signs are not as conspicuous as they once were.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is especially concerning when it comes to the still-developing adolescent brain. While the ways in which these substances affect the brain are under ongoing investigation, there is evidence to suggest that their use during adolescence may adversely affect long-term neural and behavioral development. Also, because their use can be hard to identify by adults, youth may be more likely to transition from experimentation to heavier, hazardous use in a manner that is often undetected by providers or caregivers until there is a substantial impact on school, work, or their personal or family relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to her position as a professor of psychology within 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Health Sciences<\/a>, Feldstein Ewing is a child\/adolescent clinician with over two decades experience working in adolescent substance use prevention and treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFamilies would come to me for treatment for youth engaged in heavy substance use and say, \u2018I didn\u2019t even know my kid was using.\u2019 Parents are having a hard time and now that many states are making cannabis legal for recreational use, I think parents and providers are really feeling at a loss to navigate this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is especially relevant here in Rhode Island, where recreational cannabis was recently legalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Viewpoint is primarily geared toward adolescent health care providers who are in a unique position to assist in detection as well as facilitating access to treatment services, due to their recurring appointments with young people. But, says Feldstein Ewing, parents and caregivers may also find the recommendations helpful. Opening the lines of communication with young people can provide adolescents a platform in which to discuss current life concerns, including substance use. One straightforward way that parents or caregivers can do this, she says, is by increasing the frequency of family dinners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely hard today \u2014 families are busy with work, school, sports and other activities. But the point is, if that can be a place where you are seeing and connecting with your kids every day, it will be easier to notice small changes in behavior or other patterns. It doesn\u2019t even have to be a dinner, it can also take the form of drives or walks \u2013 if you provide a forum to talk about \u2018regular stuff\u2019 it will be easier for them and for you to bring these things up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provider use of well-validated substance use screening tools, specific for adolescents, is recommended as part of the framework \u2014 as is active listening and the use of open-ended questions. Providers may also be able to communicate things that parents can\u2019t, such as the risks and potential longer-term effects associated with such substances. By the same token, adolescents may be more likely to open up to providers in the patient-provider context. Parents and providers may find that asking about peer use can provide helpful insights while being perceived as less intrusive to young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe most important part of all this is that this is new territory \u2014 and that\u2019s OK. The things we have done historically no longer translate well for these new forms of substances, so we need to readjust. Providers and parents often do not feel comfortable discussing topics like substance use because they are not sure what to do if teens say, \u2018Yes , we are using\u2019,\u201d said Feldstein Ewing. \u201cBut when it comes down to it, even though we often think about teens as spending most of their time with their friends, parents still have the biggest influence on their teen\u2019s behavior. So knowing where they are, who they are hanging out with, and being open to having these sometimes scary conversations on a consistent basis is important. And, providers have a critical role to play in supporting kids and families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feldstein Ewing is Director of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Adolescent Neuroscience Center for Health Resilience<\/a>, which focuses on adolescent translational approaches, increasing understanding of the links between basic biological mechanisms \u2014 like the brain \u00ad\u00ad\u2014 and effective treatments for reducing adolescent health risk behaviors. Several of Feldstein Ewing\u2019s trainees contributed to the piece, including lead author, Genevieve Dash, M.S., at the University of Missouri; as well as Karen Hudson, M.C.R., at 溏心vlog免费B站; and her 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate students Emily Kenyon, Emily Carter, and Diana Ho.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Dec. 9, 2022 \u2013 Despite advances in technology and availability, one of the best ways for parents and health care providers to prevent or help stop adolescent substance use is still an old-fashioned conversation, according to a new Viewpoint published in the November issue of The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":81881,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81880"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81928,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81880\/revisions\/81928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}