Efforts to reduce or delay exposure of drugs and alcohol to children may prevent a wide range of adult health problems and should not be restricted to adolescents who are already at risk.
Exposure to alcohol and illicit drugs during early adolescence has been associated with poor outcomes in adulthood. However, many adolescents with exposure to these substances also have a history of conduct problems, which raises the question of whether early exposure to alcohol and drugs leads to poor outcomes only for those adolescents who are already at risk.
Experts believe that people who began using drugs regularly, whether it is alcohol or cannabis prior to their 15th birthday or so face a higher risk of early pregnancy, as well as a pattern of school failure, misconduct and disorderliness, substance dependence, sexually-transmitted disease and criminal convictions.
Factors that can cause addiction
Repeated and early exposure to addictive substances and behaviours play a significant role to someone becoming an addict. But genetics are said toincrease the likelihood of an addiction by about 50 percent or so – it should be noted that just because addiction runs in the family does not necessarily mean a person will develop one.
The environment, the friends and the family structure can also play a role in how a person responds to a substance or behaviour. A lack or disruption in a person’s social support system can lead to substance or behavioural addiction. Traumatic experiences that affect coping abilities can also lead to addictive behaviours and this is just to mention a few causes of addiction.
Addiction is a complex disease and there is no one cause for addiction. It is usually a combination of factors that cause someone to become one.
Do genetics really factor into addiction? You would think this would be a simple answer, however, it requires an explanation to develop a better understanding of the role that genetics has within addiction. Because yes, in part, addiction may be caused from genetics, the operative word being “may.” In other words, “Susceptibility Does Not Mean Inevitability.” Let me explain this. The tendency towards addiction is complex and dependent on numerous factors even within a person’s genetics. Unlike for some other diseases, there is no single gene that determines whether you will develop a problem with alcohol; instead, many genes influence your risk for developing alcoholism, each of which only has a small impact.
Just because a person has a genetic predisposition does not mean that they will develop addiction, or even patterns of abuse. It simply means that their risk factor is higher and that they should be extra careful in developing both a greater awareness and protective factors within their life. This is important to keep close to heart if you feel that you may have a genetic risk factor. This for instance is the case if a close family member like a parent has addiction.