Substance Use Patterns Among Adolescents: A Latent Class Analysis

Introduction:
This text is a research report on substance use patterns among adolescents in the United States. The report uses latent class analysis to examine risk factors and identify patterns of simultaneous drug exploration among adolescents. The study uses data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is a national school-based survey of 9th-to 12th-grade students to monitor health risk behaviors.

Key Points:

* The study identified five latent patterns of substance use among adolescents, including abstinent, first-step social experimenter, second-step social experimenter, pill experimenter, and full experimenter.
* Gender, race, grade, and depressive mood were strong predictors of membership in a particular substance use class.
* The study found that adolescents presenting for care may possess symptoms associated with various substances beyond those being managed.
* The study highlights the importance of mental health nurses in reducing adolescent substance use through primary and secondary prevention.
* The study used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is a national school-based survey of 9th-to 12th-grade students to monitor health risk behaviors.
* The study used latent class analysis and logistic regression for data analysis.
* The study found that the prevalence of the use of tobacco products overall has remained constant with the rise in popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and vaporing products.

Main Message:
The study highlights the importance of identifying substance use patterns and their predictors to develop and execute prevention strategies to intervene in cases of adolescent substance use and experimentation. The study emphasizes the need for mental health nurses to leverage these results in reducing adolescent substance use through primary and secondary prevention. The study also recommends a longitudinal study of not only substance use patterns but also the progression to substance use disorders among adolescents. Overall, the study underscores the need for continued research and prevention efforts to address adolescent substance use.

Lee, Heeyoung, Kyeongra Yang, Joshua Palmer, Brayden Kameg, Lin Clark, and Brian Greene. “Substance Use Patterns Among Adolescents: A Latent Class Analysis.” Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association 26, no. 6 (November 2020): 586–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078390319858658.