Exclusion and Marginalisation in Adolescence: The Experience of School Exclusion on Drug Use and Antisocial Behaviour

Young people excluded from school are a group at an increased risk to drug use and antisocial behaviour during adolescence and later marginalisation and exclusion from society in adulthood (Blyth and Milner, 1993). As part of the Belfast Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study of the onset and development of adolescent drug use, young people who entered post primary school in 2000 (aged 11/12 years) were surveyed annually on four occasions. This paper reports on findings from this survey in relation to a supplementary group of young people who were surveyed because they had been excluded from school. The findings show higher levels of drug use and antisocial behaviour among school excludees, lower levels of communication with their parents/guardians, higher levels of contact with the criminal justice system and increased likelihood of living in communities characterised with neighbourhood disorganisation. This lifestyle perhaps suggests these young people are leading a life that is already taking them towards the margins of society.

Substance Use Behaviours of Young People with A Moderate Learning Disability: A longitudinal analysis

Substance use behaviours of young people attending a special school are reported over a four year period from the age of 12-16 years. The paper investigated these behaviours by surveying a cohort of young people with a statement for moderate learning disabilities annually during the last four years of compulsory schooling. The findings show that these young people consistently reported lower levels of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use compared with those attending mainstream school. No other illicit drug use was reported. The potential implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the context and timing of targeted substance education and prevention initiatives for young people with moderate learning disability attending a special school.

Moderate adolescent drug use and the development of substance use self-regulation

This article presents a re-conceptualization of moderate adolescent drug use. It is argued that experimentation with alcohol and other drugs during the teenage years may play an important role in the development of regulatory competency in relation to drug consumption in adulthood. When such regulatory skills fail to emerge in young people, during the transition to adulthood, the likelihood of serious alcohol- or drug-related harm is increased. The article reviews the empirical evidence of poor self-regulation as a predictor of long-term alcohol-and drug-related problems, places self-regulation within a broader theoretical framework, and considers the policy and practice implications of this conceptualization.

The extent and nature of family alcohol and drug use: Findings from the Belfast Youth Development Study

Using data from an ongoing longitudinal study of adolescent drug use, this study examines the proportion of teenagers living with parents who are problem alcohol or drug users. Around two percent of parents report high levels of problem drinking and one per cent report problem drug use. If a broader definition of hazardous drinking is used, the proportion of teenagers exposed increases to over 15 per cent. When substance use is examined at a family level (taking account of alcohol and drug use amongst dependent children in addition to that of parents), the proportion of families experiencing some form of substance use is considerable. These findings add further support to the call for increased recognition of the needs of dependent children within adult treatment services when working with parents. Likewise, the reduction of harm to children as a result of parent substance use should be an increasingly important priority for family support services. This is likely to be achieved through the closer integration of addiction and family services.

Patterns of substance use among young people attending colleges of further education in Northern Ireland

Aims: The aim of this article was to investigate the factors associated with ecstasy use in school-aged teenagers. Methods: This was a longitudinal study of adolescent drug use, which was undertaken in three towns in Northern Ireland. A questionnaire was administered annually to participants. In this article ecstasy use patterns amongst a cohort of young people aged 14–16 years participating in the Belfast Youth Development Study (BYDS) was explored. Findings: The percentage of those who had used ecstasy at least once increased from 7% when aged 14 years to 9% at 15 and 13% at 16 years. Female gender, delinquency, problem behaviours at school and the number of evenings spent out with friends each week were found to be significant variables predicting ‘ever use’ of ecstasy in all 3 years by logistic regression. Conclusions: The findings suggest that ecstasy use patterns may be changing from their historical perception as a ‘party’ drug, as the demographic profile ecstasy of users in this study reflected the traditional profile of illicit drug use during adolescence, which raises challenges for addressing the problems associated with this drug.