Risk and Protective Factors for Substance Use and Abuse

This chapter presents an overview of international research into the risk and protective factors, developmental course, and long-term consequences of adolescent substance use within a contextual developmental framework informed by Family Interactional Theory (FIT). According to this theory, adolescent substance use is best understood as determined by a multitude of risk factors in different developmental contexts (i.e., individual, micro- and macro-contextual). The chapter also describes how the developmental pathways to adolescent substance use can be modified by protective factors, which have the ability to mitigate the impact of risk factors on adolescent substance use and abuse. FIT focuses on the role the parent-adolescent relationship, especially a non-conflictual mutual attachment relationship, plays in insulating children and adolescents against risk factors for substance use and abuse. The chapter also presents approaches to the prevention of adolescent substance use. In addition, the chapter emphasizes the importance of relevant and appropriate cultural and developmental factors in prevention. Directions for future research are presented.