Psychiatric, Developmental, and Adolescent Medicine Issues in Adolescent Substance Use and Abuse

After an overview of the developmental goals of early, middle, and late adolescence, the authors discuss the demographics and patterns of comorbidity. The high incidence both of psychiatric symptoms in the substance-abusing population and of drug abuse in the psychiatric population complicates diagnosis and treatment of both disorders, especially when treatment services are separate, as in the public sector. The adolescent medicine physician can perform a valuable role in bridging the gap.