Adolescent substance use: more than e-cigarettes

Adolescents who are frequent users of multiple substances such as alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes are at significantly higher risk of negative mental, physical, and substance use outcomes in adulthood, but studies often fail to focus on poly substance use, especially among younger adolescents. Dr. Pearson will present recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from adolescents ages 11-13 and 14-18 in Nevada, examining patterns of recent poly substance use that account for use of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and non-prescription pain medication, and their correlations with mental distress and risk and protective factors that offer potential targets to reduce the prevalence of the riskiest poly substance use patterns.