Cannabis Addiction

Both risk and protective factors affect youth at different life stages, from pregnancy through young adulthood, as well as well as in various domains including individual, peer, family, school and community.

When not properly identified and dealt with early on negative behavior can further a child’s risks for drug use and other problems. Effective preventative interventions reduce risk and increase protection at each developmental stage, as well as within each domain.

The possible impact of any particular risk or protective factor changes as a person ages. Specific risk and protective factors in particular domains, such as the home environment, can have a greater influence on younger children, while peer level risk and protective factors can be more important for adolescents.Early life family dynamics can either increase the risk for drug use, given poor nurturing or ineffective parenting, or reduce the risk through developing strong initial child parent bonding and providing clear, consistent discipline, which are important protective factors.

One of the most salient risks for youth drug use is associating with drug abusing peers. Other important community level risk factors for drug initiation are access to and availability of drugs, drug trafficking patterns, and normative beliefs that drug use is “generally tolerated”.

In addition to disengagement from school, parents or other family members who have problems with alcohol and drugs may model drug use for their children, have difficulty monitoring their behavior, or enhance the availability of substances.Conflicted families may not offer the support for adolescents to deal with stressors in their lives, monitor their behavior, or may be a stressor themselves, potentially causing drug use as a form of stress relief. Exposure to community violence increases risk as well; high levels of stress are associated with witnessing and being victimized by violent crime, causing teenagers to turn to drugs as a form of stress relief, and there are often more drug opportunities in high‐violence areas.Additionally, adolescents who display impulsive behavior may be more likely to initiate drug use.

While there are multiple risk factors for cannabis use, protective factors exist as well.Parents who are religious are more likely to support and monitor their children, and to communicate values regarding behavior.They are also more likely to have children who are religious, and religious adolescents engage in less deviant behavior, including substance use.This is potentially because of personal beliefs regarding behavior, or as a result of support for healthy behavior from religious institutions.Family communication and cohesion are also protective, as these families are often more supportive and adolescents are reinforced for adaptive coping behavior. Additionally, the feeling of being cared for and connected to parents or guardians protects adolescents from substance use.School engagement, including completing homework and participating in extracurricular activities, is protective. Teachers can provide a great deal of support for adolescents, as a buffer for negative peer interactions and helping to develop a feeling of connection with

school.