Risk Factors and Risk Behaviors in Prevention of Adolescent Substance Abuse

Although substance abuse is both preventable and treatable, few primary care physicians include its prevention or assessment in their routine practice. The authors examine strategies for identifying risk factors in adolescents, such as family history, persistent behavioral problems, failure at school, interpersonal alienation, and peer pressure. Also analyzed are both the opportunities and the barriers faced by physicians in the treatment of adolescent substance abuse.