Research & Resources

Researchers sought to understanding the motivations reported by adolescents for using alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs and the persons with whom they use these substances to potentially guide strategies to prevent or reduce substance use and its related consequences among adolescents. They conducted a cross-sectional study among adolescents being assessed for SUD treatment in the United States during 2014–2022, examining the self-reported motivations for using substances and the persons with whom substances were used. The most commonly reported motivation for substance use was “to feel mellow, calm, or relaxed” (73percent), with other stress-related motivations among the top reasons, including “to stop worrying about a problem or to forget bad memories” (44 percent) and “to help with depression or anxiety” (40 percent); one half (50 percent) reported using substances “to have fun or experiment.” The majority of adolescents reported using substances with friends (81 percent) or using alone (50 percent). The findings suggested that interventions related to reducing stress and addressing mental health concerns might reduce these leading motivations for substance use among adolescents. Education for adolescents about harm reduction strategies, including the danger of using drugs while alone and how to recognize and respond to an overdose, could potentially reduce the risk for fatal overdose.

This paper, “Characteristics of Alcohol, Marijuana, and Other Drug Use Among Persons Aged 13-18 Years Being Assessed for Substance Use Disorder Treatment - United States, 2014-2022,” was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and published in the journal MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report.