ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
Drug and substance abuse has become an increasingly pressing issue worldwide, especially among youth. This conceptual article aims to discuss the factors contributing to drug and substance abuse, the effects of drug and substance abuse on youth, methods of preventing drug and substance abuse among youth, and the importance of spirituality in youth. Drug and substance abuse refers to the uncontrolled, excessive, or illegal use of certain chemicals or substances that can alter a person's mental, emotional, or physical state. Several factors make it easy for youth to get involved in drug and substance abuse, such as being easily influenced by friends, experiencing stress or depression, having poor family dynamics, lacking socioeconomic support, and having neurobiological differences. Drug and substance abuse impacts youth in terms of health, social, and economic well-being. The importance of a holistic approach in prevention should be emphasized by promoting education about drug and substance abuse awareness, fostering protective factors such as spirituality, and recognizing the role of parents and families in forming a positive environment that does not support drug and substance abuse. The importance of the spiritual element in youth is also described as a defense against drug and substance abuse.
AADK. (2018). 2017 National Anti-Drug Agency Report . Retrieved from https://www.adk.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/Buku-Laporan-Tahunan-AADK-2018.pdf
Abdullah, F., Abdullah, B., & Ali, M. (2020). Literature review on drug addiction treatment highlights of drug addiction treatment studies. Journal of Islam And Contemporary Society , 21 (1), 184-192. https://doi.org/10.37231/jimk.2020.21.1.468
National Anti-Drug Agency. (2020). Drug information book 2020 . Retrieved from https://www.adk.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/Buku-Maklumat-Dadah-2020.pdf
Agrawal, A. (2022). The genetics of addiction—A translational perspective. Translational Psychiatry, 2 (7), 140.
Akers, R. L., & Lee, G. (2022). Peer group association and drug abuse: A study of high school students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 51 (3), 602-615.
Alhammad, M., Aljedani, R., Alsaleh, M., Atyia, N., Alsmakh, M., Alfaraj, A., Alkhunaizi, A., Alwabari, J., & Alzaidi, M. (2022). Family, individual, and other risk factors contributing to risk of substance abuse in young adults: A narrative review. Cureus , 14 (12).
Ariffin, M. N., Nasir, N. C. M., & Kamaluddin, M. R. (2019). Factors of relapse in youth. Malaysian Journal of Youth Studies, 20, 69–79.
Bahr, S. J. (2015). Family, religiosity, and the risk of adolescent drug use. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67 (1), 230–243.
Bauman, K. E., Foshee, V. A., Ennett, S. T., Pemberton, M., King, T. S., & Koch, G. G. (2016). Influence of a family program on adolescent smoking and drinking prevalence. Prevention Science, 2 (1), 13–22.
Bouchery, E. E. (2020). The economic costs of excessive alcohol consumption in the US, 2019. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 58 (4), 524-531.
Brechwald, W. A., & Prinstein, M. J. (2021). Beyond homophily: A decade of advances in understanding peer influence processes. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21 (1), 166–179.
Bryan, A., Moran, R., Farrell, E., & O'Brien, M. (2000). Drug-related knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs in Ireland: A report of a nation-wide survey. Dublin: The Health Research Board.
Casey, B. J., Jones, R. M., & Hare, T. A. (2018). The adolescent brain. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124, 111–126.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/index.htm
Chapman, M., & Gopalan, G. (2020) . Substance use and mental health disorders among foster youth: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 108.
Courtney, K. E., & Polich, J. (2019). Binge drinking in young adults: Data, definitions, and determinants. Psychological Bulletin, 135 (1), 142–156.
Cotton, S., Zebracki, K., Rosenthal, S. L., Tsevat, J., & Drotar, D. (2016). Religion/spirituality and adolescent health outcomes: A review. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38 (4), 472–480.
Crone, E. A., & Dahl, R. E. (2022). Understanding adolescence as a period of social-affective engagement and goal flexibility. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 13 (9), 636–650.
Degenhardt, L. (2020). Global burden of disease attributable to illicit drug use and dependence: Findings from the global burden of disease study 2017. Lancet Psychiatry, 7 (8), 582-592.
Dishion, T. J., Nelson, S. E., & Kavanagh, K. (2018). The family check-up with high-risk young adolescents: Preventing early-onset substance use by parent monitoring. Behavior Therapy, 39 (3), 223–23
Dodgen, C. E., & Shea, W. M. (2020). Substance use disorders: Assessment and treatment. Academic Press, Retrieved from https://www.ispu.org/substance-abuse-and-addiction-in-the-muslim-community/
Duncan, S. C. (2018). Family influences on adolescent alcohol use: A peer-group mediation model. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 59 (2), 122–131.
Fisher, J. W., Francis, L. J., & Johnson, P. (2000). Assessing spiritual health via four domains of spiritual well-being: The SH4DI. Pastoral Psychology, 49 (2), 133–145.
Fosco, G. M., Stormshak, E. A., Dishion, T. J., & Winter, C. E. (2012). Family relationships and parental monitoring during middle school as predictors of early adolescent problem behavior. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 41 (2), 202–213.
French, M. T. (2017). Economic costs of opioid and nonopioid abuse in the United States. Pain Medicine, 18 (5), 964-975.
Galea, S. (2020). The public health crisis of underrecognized substance use disorders. American Journal of Epidemiology, 324 (8), 801-802.
Galea, S. (2021). Economic contractions, alcohol abuse, and public health consequences: Evidence from a study of heavy drinking after the collapse of the Soviet Union. American Journal of Epidemiology, 173 (3), 319–327.
Galen, L. W., & Rogers, W. M. (2017). Religiosity, spirituality, and adolescent substance use. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 31 (3), 305–315.
George, O., & Koob, G. F. (2020). Individual differences in the neuro-psychopathology of addiction. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 12 (4), 339–347.
Gilligan, C., Suitor, J. J., & Feld, S. (2018). Intergenerational ambivalence: The interplay of social structure and social bond. In G. Deimling & K. Pillemer (Eds.), Handbook on families and aging (pp. 367–389). Praeger Publishers.
Hebert, R., Matthews, M. A., & Hornosty, J. (2017). What matters to them: Older adults' perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 29 (1), 26–44.
Horan, J. J., D'Amico, M. M., & Williams, J. M. (1975). Assertiveness and patterns of drug use: A pilot study. Journal of Drug Education, 5 (3), 217-221, https://doi.org/10.2190/NLB1-T51N-B58Q-6BTP
Houck, C. D., Hadley, W., Barker, D., Brown, L. K., Hancock, E., Almy, B., & Santelli, J. (2016). An emotion regulation intervention to reduce risk behaviors among at-risk early adolescents. Prevention Science, 17 (1), 71–82.
Karriker-Jaffe, K. J. (2017). Income inequality, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems. American Journal of Public Health, 107 (4), 542–548
Kelly, J. F., & White, W. L. (2022). Addiction recovery mutual aid groups: An enduring international phenomenon. addiction, 107 (6), 1993-1995.
Kendler, K. S. (2022). Genetic and familial environmental influences on the risk for drug abuse: A national Swedish adoption study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 79 (3), 288-295.
Keyes, K. M. (2015). The relationship between socioeconomic status and prescription drug misuse: Results from a national study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 69 (8), 817–823.
Kumpfer, K. L., & Alvarado, R. (2023). Family-strengthening approaches for the prevention of youth problem behaviors. American Psychologist, 58 (6–7), 457–465.
Laird, R. D., Marks, L. D., & Marrero, M. D. (2011). Religiosity, self-control, and antisocial behavior: Religiosity as a promotional and protective factor. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 32 (2), 78–85.
Larochelle, M. R. (2019). The medical care costs of youth opioid overdose, abuse, and dependence in an employer-insured population. Journal of Adolescent Health, 64 (6), 779-785.
Marschall-Lévesque, S., Castellanos-Ryan, N., Vitaro, F., & Séguin, J. R. (2017). Moderators of the association between peer and target adolescent substance use. Addictive Behaviors , 64 , 78–89.
Mogahed, D. (2021). Substance Abuse and Addiction in the Muslim Community: Facing Stigma and Seeking Support , American Muslim Poll 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2024, from https://www.ispu.org/substance-abuse-and-addiction-in-the-muslim -community/
NIDA. (2020). Prevention Principles . National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Pargament, K. I. (2022). The bitter and the sweet: An evaluation of the costs and benefits of religiousness. Psychological Inquiry, 13 (3), 168–181.
Malay Literature Reference Center. (2017). Retrieved from
http://prpmv1.dbp.gov.my/Search.aspx?k=dadah
Steinberg, L., & Monahan, K. C/ (2017). Age differences in resistance to peer influence. Developmental Psychology, 43 (6), 1531–1543.
Thoma, B. C., Huebner, D. M., & Moon, T. R. (2020). Drug use among adolescents: The role of peers, family, and social environment. Substance Use & Misuse, 55 (5), 805–816.
UNODC. (2020). World Drug Report 2020, Booklet 2, Drug Use and Health Consequences. United Nations Publications.
Van Ryzin, M. J., Fosco, G. M., & Dishion, T. J. (2012). Family and peer predictors of substance use from early adolescence to early adulthood: An 11-year prospective analysis. Addictive Behaviors, 37 (12), 1314–1324.
Vargas-Perez, H. (2023). Epigenetic changes associated with drug addiction: A molecular perspective. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior , 212
Volkow, N. D. (2019). Adverse health effects of marijuana use. New England Journal of Medicine, 381 (10), 973–983.
Volkow, ND, & Boyle, M. (2018). Neuroscience of addiction: Relevance to prevention and treatment. American Journal of Psychiatry, 175 (8), 729–740.
Wazir, R., Usman, A. H., Saleh, N. M., Sudi, S., Hadi, A., Syamim, A., & & Rosman, Z. (2019). Hadith targhib and tarhib in dealing with the issue of drug addiction: HADIS , 9 (17), 48–64. https://doi.org/10.53840/HADIS.V9I17.56
White, W., & Kurtz, E. (2016). The Varieties of Recovery Experience. International Journal of Self Help and Self Care, 3 (1-2), 21–61.
World Health Organization. (2023). Adolescent Health. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/health-topics/adolescent-health
Wong, Y. J. (2016). The positive psychology of transformation through adversity: A review of resilience and benefit finding. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 1 (1), 3–17.
Yidian, Z. (2023). Psychological factors of addition and interventions for substance use disorder. SHS Web of Conferences, 179 ,
https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202317901022 ICHESS 2023
Zou, C., Hong, L., Pan, L., & Wang, J. (2017). Spiritual beliefs and quality of life: The mediating role of spiritual coping for community-based individuals with early-stage chronic kidney disease in China. Journal of Religion and Health, 56 (6), 2012–2023.
(Kamal et al., 2024)
Kamal, N. F. binti M., Shafie, A. A. H. bin, Othman, K. binti, Mokhtar, A. N. bin, & Wahab, S. bin. (2024). Drug and Substance Abuse among Youth: Factors, Effects and Prevention Methods. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 14(7), 981–998.
Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s)
Published by HRMARS (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seenavc at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode