Perceptions of Substance Use as a Motivator to Use Substances

Abstract Understanding motivations of young adults to initiate substance use is important to tailor prevention and intervention efforts to reduce risk of long-term consequences such as addiction and mental health disorders. Previous studies have shown that there is a genetic and social component to adolescent and young adult substance use disorders (SUDs). For example, a longitudinal case-controlled studies of both genders done by Yule et.al showed a strong correlation between exposure to maternal SUDs and an increase in SUDs in their children with and without ADHD. Other studies have shown the effects of parental use, social interactions, and brain development to conclude that those around substance use and receiving peer pressure from those who use substances will be at an increased risk (O’Brien and Hill, 2019). Articles by Arria et.al and King and Chassin showed through using data to represent a national sample and an ongoing longitudinal study that there are environmental factors that increase the risk of adolescent and young adult substance use. In households with lower levels of disciplinary action, lack of control, and decreased behavioral control there is an increased chance of adolescent and young adult SUDs with or without parental SUDs. However, a survey study by Hoth concluded that there was no connection between parent-child SU instead there was a higher correlation between peer substance use and adolescent and young adult SUDs. Though these studies prove that there is an increased chance of young adult SUDs due to parental SUDs there is a gap in the research in identifying how child SU and perceptions of SU are influenced by parental SU. Even though young adults will develop a SUD due to their parents, some of their perceptions might change their perceptions to initiate substance use and needs further exploration. Key Words: Addiction, Heritability, Motivations for Substance Use, Substance Use Disorder, Substance Us