OFFICE OF APPLIED STUDIES

1.2 Purposes of this Report

This report examines the relationship between psychological functioning and substance use among adolescents. Both mental disorders and substance use frequently have their onset in adolescence. Therefore, examination of this developmental period may shed light on the relationship between mental disorders and substance use. Because the combined NHSDAs for 1994-B, 1995, and 1996 include detailed measures of psychosocial functioning and substance use, the NHSDA data can be used to examine the prevalence of specific patterns of emotional and behavioral problems and substance use among early (12 to 13), middle (14 to 15), and late (16 to 17) adolescents. Specifically, the report examines the association between substance use and measures of emotional and behavioral problems within groups defined by age and gender. It establishes rates of emotional and behavioral problems in the non-institutionalized adolescent population of the United States (see Chapter 3) and determines whether specific measures of psychological functioning are associated with substance use (see Chapter 4). The report also specifies a subset of items from the YSR that can be used to identify adolescents at high risk for substance abuse.

This page was last updated on June 01, 2008.

SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.