- Image by penguincakes via Flickr
Shrink Wrap blog shares an interesting post concerning a study that links teen drinking to behavioral problems.
“Forty-three per cent of students who reported behavioral or other problems also reported having been drunk more than 10 times in their lives, while only 27 per cent of students who reported few or no conduct problems had been drunk more than 10 times. But boys were only slightly more likely than girls to report drinking heavily.”
The difficulty parents have assessing the level of problem that substance abuse is causing for their troubled teen is well known. Knowledge that such a link between behavioral problems and drinking exists can help parents to disentangle the complexity of the riddle they are facing. The post notes:
“it may be particularly important to focus on teens with attention and conduct problems and girls with anxiety and depression.”
It speaks to our experience that the specific indicators of difficulty for troubled teen girls surrounding depression include a vulnerability to expressive drinking and substance abuse.
