A recent survey suggests that people who report severe substance use disorder at adolescence typically carry this disorder well into adulthood.
According to a new study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, individuals who reported multiple symptoms typically associated with severe substance use disorder at age 18 were more likely, as adults, to use and abuse prescription medications, as well as self-medicate with opioids, sedatives or tranquillizers.
“Screening adolescents for drug use is extremely important for early intervention and prevention of the development of substance use disorder,” Nora Volkow, M.D., director of NIDA said, according to the press release. “This is critical especially as the transition from adolescence to adulthood, when brain development is still in progress, appears to be a period of high risk for drug use initiation.” Volkow further discusses the findings and implications of this study in a related commentary.
For this study, researchers analyzed the correlations between individuals' substance use disorder symptom severity at age 18 and their prescription drug use, prescription drug misuse, and substance use disorder symptoms later in life up to age 50.
Previous studies analyzed substance use disorder as just one broad category, without looking at severity. This new study emphasizes the need for properly assessing adults for a history of substance use disorder symptoms before prescribing them controlled medications.
According to the researchers, more work is required to analyze how potential neurological mechanisms can cause adolescents with severe substance use disorder symptoms to be at increased risk for drug abuse as adults
