Adolescent substance misuse : why one young person may be more at risk than another, and what you can do to help

We read endless statistics about how many drugs young people are using and how much alcohol they are drinking.

But what makes one of them, say, five times as likely to develop a drink problem as their friend down the road who drinks the same amount?

This pragmatically helpful book: shows how you can assess a young person's particular risk - and your own - of one day developing an alcohol or other substance related problem; can also help you and a young person with whom you have a caring or helping relationship to understand the reason for this.

For example, you may be able to assess that someone in your care - or you - are at risk because of low levels of self-esteem caused by low academic achievement coupled with living in an alcohol-abusing environment...and base this assessment on extensively researched evidence. he book contains questions that have been developed and tested by the author over a number of years that will help people to recognise that they - or someone they know - may either have an existing problem or are prone towards developing a problem. This is achieved through a 'risk factor' or 'odds ratio' approach, which gives indicators of who might be particularly susceptible to substance abuse in different settings, and provides suggestions for changing the circumstances to help a young person avoid problems.

For those who may not be familiar with such information, or who may want a user-friendly single source, the book sets this assessment in ample background information on the biological, psychological and social contexts of substance abuse, presented in a simple and understandable way, and drawing on a world-wide picture.