Adolescent Substance Abuse in the US and Australia

While
the United States’ national drug control policy advocates for reducing drug
use, Australia’s supports reducing the harms of use. To
explore potential cross-national differences in the prevalence
of, and risk and protective factors for, adolescent substance use
that may be associated with these policies, researchers analyzed
survey data from 40,845 adolescents in the United States (US) and
Australia.

• More
  Australian youths reported regular cigarette and alcohol use
  than did US adolescents, whereas more US youths reported current
  marijuana use.
• Generally,
  risk and protective factors were similar in both the US and Australia. However,
  community norms, youth attitudes, and parental attitudes favorable
  to drug use were more common in Australia. Sensation seeking
  and possessing stronger social skills were more common in the
  US.
• Peer/individual
  risk and protective factors were more strongly related to substance
  use in the US; family factors protective against regular alcohol
  use were also stronger in the US.

Comments:

This

study is an interesting initial effort to understand the

implications of differing national drug control strategies

on adolescent substance use. The US-supported abstinence
strategy may heighten the risk of adolescent rebelliousness
that may lead to substance use. In contrast, the
harm-reduction model of Australia may contribute to more
tolerant youth, parental, and community attitudes, which
in turn may also increase use. However, these interpretations,
which relate observed cross-national differences to policy
differences, must be considered speculative (as the authors
admit), but they are a useful first step.

Jeffrey
H. Samet, MD, MA, MPH

Reference:

Beyers

JM, Toumbourou JW, Catalano RF, et al. A cross-national
comparison of risk and protective factors for adolescent
substance use: the United States and Australia. J
Adolesc Health. 2004;35(1):3–16.
(view
abstract)