Addressing Addiction Risk Factors in Young People

As children get older, they face increasing stress. This stress can stem from school, family, peers, social media, body changes, and wider factors like finances, safety, and access to support. Amid all this, as young people enter middle and high school, they may encounter drugs for the first time. 

It’s important to understand not only the risk factors for addiction, also known as substance use disorder, but also the protective factors that families and communities can provide to help prevent it. 

Take Action to Prevent Addiction in Young People 

While risk factors like trauma and early substance use can raise the chances of developing a substance use disorder, they are not the whole story. Prevention is possible, and powerful.  

Two key approaches stand out as especially effective in reducing the risk of addiction among young people: 

#1: Build Protective Factors to Support Healthy Development of Young People  

Strong, supportive environments help young people navigate stress and reduce their risk of turning to substances. Protective factors work at both the individual and community level. 

At a community level (programs and policies): 

• Family-friendly workplace policies 

• Policies that help strengthen household financial security 

• Legislative and public awareness campaigns to reduce violence and adversity 

• High-quality childcare and preschool 

• Social-emotional learning 

• Safe dating and healthy relationship skill programs 

• Mentoring and after-school programs 

At an individual level (adults within community): 

• Loving, affirming homes 

• Healthy food and stable housing 

• Parental supervision and monitoring 

• A strong school connection 

• Strong neighborhood attachment 

#2: Engage and Invest in Research-Based Educational Programs  

Recent reports have shown that several research-based prevention programs have been able to effectively reduce the number of people, mostly young people, who start to use drugs or alcohol, as well as the reduced the number that progressed on to harmful use of those substances. What’s more, these programs save communities much-needed funds. A 2008 SAMHSA analysis found that for every $1 spent on evidence-based prevention programs, $18 is saved.   

Despite this, prevention funding declined by more than a third for the decade ending 2019. With addiction and overdose rates on the rise, greater investment in prevention is needed. 

Prevention funding should be spent on programs that are effective and based on long-term research. 

Successful prevention programs should: 

• Address the community’s specific needs 

• Involve the young people directly, making programs with them rather than for them 

• Involve the community’s schools and teachers 

While they should not: 

• Rely on outside experts, one-off events, or band-aid type fixes 

• Exclusively offer information, like pamphlets or lectures, without the active involvement of the intended audience 

• Use scare tactics, which frequently backfire 

Understanding the Risks That Young People Face 

To effectively prevent addiction, it’s important to understand what increases a young person’s vulnerability. While everyone is different, research has identified several key risk factors that can raise the likelihood of substance use and addiction. By recognizing these risks, we can respond with greater empathy, awareness, and impactful support. 

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)  

ACEs refer to traumatic experiences that can happen during a person’s childhood or teenage years, from birth to age 17, and that can have lasting effects on one’s health and wellbeing.  According to the CDC, the most common ACEs among high schoolers include emotional abuse, physical abuse and living in a household affected by poor mental health or substance use. Lacking reliable access to food or stable housing, lack of adult supervision, witnessing various forms of abuse—these are all examples of experiences that can cause problems later in life. ACEs add up, too—a high number of ACEs increases a person's risk of health issues. 

The more ACEs an individual has experienced, the more at-risk they are of later health problems.

ACEs are more common than you might think: The CDC reports, “Three in four high school students reported experiencing one or more ACEs, and one in five experienced four or more ACEs.” 

ACEs don’t just increase substance use disorder risk. ACEs also put people at greater risk of chronic health problems in the body, like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. It is important to remember, however, that trauma is highly subjective and varies from person to person, and each environment plays a part too.  

Just because ACEs are present, that doesn’t mean a person is certainly going to engage in drug use or any other harmful behavior. These are simply pieces of the complex puzzle that makes up each person’s health and wellbeing. The more aware caregivers and communities can be of young people’s unique circumstances and challenges, the better they can offer individualized support and protective factors. 

Early Substance Use  

The human brain is still growing until a person’s early 20s. During young adulthood and teen years, the brain areas responsible for risk assessment and judgment are not yet fully developed. 

During young adulthood, the brain areas responsible for risk assessment and judgment are not yet fully developed.

“The fact that this critical part of an adolescent’s brain is still a work in progress puts them at increased risk for making poor decisions (such as trying drugs or continuing to take them),” says the National Institute on Drug Abuse. 

What’s more, drug use impacts a person’s brain in specific ways. So when a young person uses any substance — whether it’s a legal one like alcohol or marijuana, or an illegal one like meth or heroin — it’s going to be riskier, since their brains are still developing, forming connections, and learning patterns. Using drugs at a young age may unintentionally “teach” the brain to turn to substances in order to cope with stress or pressure. 

Research shows that the earlier a person starts using drugs in their life, the greater the risk of long-term issues, like developing a substance use disorder. 

Turn Awareness into Action 

By understanding the risk factors that can lead to addiction and actively working to build protective environments and deliver meaningful education, we can give young people the tools they need to thrive. Prevention isn’t about one big solution: it’s about consistent, everyday efforts from families, schools, and communities. Together, we can make a lasting difference.