[Drug abuse in youth.]

In an on-going review of the literature dealing with the assessment of drug abuse treatment and prevention programs, the authors indicate that changes are occurring in basic concepts : the concept of addiction has been expanded and a more systemic approach to drug use and abuse is more prevalent. An examination of the relationship between adolescent drug use and the related psychosocial images leads to an outline of two main evaluative approaches : the moralistic a priori approach and the empirical social approach. To efficiently prevent youthful drug abuse, they propose that primary preventive actions should focus on demand factors and be complemented with secondary preventive actions focused on supply factors.