About 35 percent of middle-school students who had tried illicit drugs were reported to have used them again within four years, but receiving family-based intervention services during adolescence was associated with a 43 percent reduction in the risk of repeated use, a study by the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) found.
The research was conducted by a team at the NHRI’s Center for Neuropsychiatric Research, led by jointly appointed investigator Chen Chuan-yu (陳娟瑜). The team carried out a retrospective cohort study to examine the effects of family and school-based interventions on patterns of adolescent drug use.
As adolescence is a peak period for initiating illicit drug use — which can have adverse effects on physical, psychological and social development — the team established a study cohort of 1,605 middle-school students with an illicit drug use record, along with a control group of 809,477 students from the general population, the NHRI said.
Photo courtesy of the National Health Research Institutes
The study found that about 80 percent of the 1,605 drug-involved middle-school students had used ketamine — a substance widely regarded as a major “gateway drug” in Taiwan, Chen said yesterday.
By linking data from social welfare services, national health insurance and school dropout records, the study tracked the students over four years to evaluate how various interventions — such as family support services, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment and school dropout counseling — influenced the risk of repeated drug use, the NHRI said.
During the four-year follow-up period, 35 percent of the students were reported again for drug use, primarily through police arrests, with additional reports coming from education and health authorities, Chen said.
Compared with the general population, drug-involved students faced significantly more adverse family conditions. The study showed that 25.6 percent received poverty-related assistance, while 15.9 percent lived with at least one adult who had a history of illicit drug use, she said.
The study also found that drug-involved students disproportionately came from at-risk families (11.4 percent) and had significantly higher school dropout rates (35 percent) compared with the general population, she added.
Moreover, dropping out of school was linked to a 46 percent increase in the likelihood of being re-reported for drug use, she said, adding that in contrast, students who received at-risk family services had a 43 percent lower risk of repeated drug use.
These findings provide important evidence of the positive impact that family and school-based interventions can have on reducing adolescent illicit drug use, she said.
Policies should prioritize strengthening drug prevention education within the social welfare system for at-risk families, fostering closer collaboration between parents and schools in prevention efforts and enhancing risk assessment mechanisms for school dropouts to reduce their exposure to illicit drugs, Chen said.
The team’s findings were published in the International Journal of Drug Policy in January.
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