Abstract
Studies documenting substance abuse have shown that it is deadly. Studies done in these areas have shown a trend in the abuse of substance among the youth. Substances such as marijuana, alcohol and cannabis are continually being abused by the youth. Tobacco consumption by youth is yet to be mitigated. The government, has in some cases, not helped the situation but has served to escalate the crises by making potent substances available to users without regulation. The objectives of this research are to analyze the opinion of researchers I this field and their opinions on the matter at hand. The drive of this exploration is to discover the behavioral trends among the youth specifically substance abuse. The hypothesis of this research paper was centered on three things: that there is a significant correlation between substance abuse and video games; there is negative correlation between substance abuse and religiosity and spirituality; the correlation between legalization of recreational substances and suicides is significant. In conclusion, the research paper yielded results of a strong correlation between video gamers and alcohol abuse. There was however no correlation between suicides and medical marijuana use. However, studies showed religion and spirituality to have an inverse correlation to substance abuse
Introduction
Substance abuse is a topic of concern to many researchers. Currently, a lot of teenagers and youth are quickly embracing a culture of drug abuse. Studies are now documenting some of the negative effects of these practices. In addition to the negative consequences plaguing the teens using these drugs, extensive studies are also showing evidence of cluster addictions among the youth and teenagers. According to Lucia Romo et al, there exists a positive correlation of substance abuse and addiction to video games. Their study shows strong evidence of the likelihood to venture into drug abuse at a young age as a result of playing video games. The shocking results show that the age of introduction to substance abuse is rapidly reducing: with children as young as 12 year abusing alcohol while playing video games. Abusing drugs has various psychological consequences which can vary from addiction to suicide. Studies are showing an emerging trend in suicide attempts and actual suicides stemming from drug abuse. According to Melanie Rylander, their study show that regions that exhibit ready access to substances such as Marijuana, showed increased incidences of suicide: when the drug was declared legal for medical purposes. Their research focused on the correlation between legalized drugs and completed suicides. The area of research, Colorado, has recorded the highest incidences of suicide. It is also the only state where potent substances such as Marijuana are legal for medicinal purposes. The trend in suicides went up when the substance was legalized. There is hope however, since studies are also documenting religion as the best copying mechanism for teenagers and youth. Amanda Giordano et al believe that religiosity and spirituality is the route toward mitigating substance abuse in the young generation. Their studies show a remarkable improvement from a history of drug abuse when the subject assimilates religion. Instances of substance abuse are also limited among peers who are religious. According to their research findings, teenagers who are neither religious nor spiritual exhibit signs of distress, to which they respond by indulging in substance abuse. Unlike this group, those who have ventured into religion and spirituality use aspects of the two to adjust to distress.
The objective of this research is to evaluate the basis of these research findings. Peer reviewed works will be used to collaborate or refute the claims of these three studies: on substance abuse. The working hypotheses in this paper will be centered on three ideas; that there is a significant correlation between substance abuse and video games; there is negative correlation between substance abuse and religiosity and spirituality; the correlation between legalization of recreational substances and suicides is significant.
This research paper will explore various studies and peer reviewed opinions on in behavioral science whose central themes are substance abuse. The youth and teenagers are the two mainly affected age groups: that have shown incidences of susceptibility to substance abuse. There are various activities, beliefs and conditions that influence the trend of substance abuse. Each of these aspects will be explored in detail to answer the following questions; how does playing video games predispose one to substance abuse? What aspects of religion and spirituality mitigate substance abuse in youth? What drives suicide attempts? What role does substance abuse play in escalating suicide attempts?
Literature Review
Substance abuse is a topic of great concern to various stakeholders. This is primarily because; substance abuse poses more harm than good. According to Melanie Rylander, there is a close association between suicide attempts and marijuana use. She is however skeptic on the correlation between actual suicides and marijuana use. This is because the two groups are distinct. More research is being invested into identifying the correlation between suicide attempts and marijuana use. As stated by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, marijuana use has been documented to induce negative psychological effects on the users of said substances. On the other hand, Lucia Romo et al believe there to be a significant correlation between playing video games and substance abuse. According to their research, activities such as video games predispose a child to alcohol abuse. Problematic use of Video Games (PUVG) also impacts their studies negatively. PUVG also increases incidence of early initiation into substance abuse and was shown to be directly responsible for the time invested by young teens playing video games. According to Amanda Giordano however, these incidences of substance abuse can be mitigated by incorporating aspects of religion and spirituality into the rehabilitation programs for recovering users. According to their studies into the relationship between religiosity, spirituality and substance abuse, they uncovered evidence that there exists an inverse correlation. This is therefore crucial to school counselors as they help substance abusers who are trying to recover.
Current Study
Research into behavioral trends of substance abuse among young people has been a topic of concern to various researchers. In the world today, drug abuse has been cited by various scholars as the main reason for violence among the youth, delinquency, transmission of HIV, psychosocial issues and copying with the stresses of life. However, emerging studies are now showing alarming rates of alcohol consumption in younger teenagers. Technological inventions such as video games that propagate virtual realities have the youth addicted dangerously. In addition to this, there is increasing incidences of legalization of potent substances such as medical marijuana. These areas depict a cluster sort o addiction: in which case addiction to a particular activity predisposes the victim to addiction of another. Religion on the other hand has been documented as an excellent copying mechanism for youth: whether recovering from addiction or not.
The correlation of substance abuse and engaging video games was sown to influence the trend of substance abuse in youth and teenagers. Lucia Romo et al ventured into this research to establish a relationship between playing video games and substance abuse. These substances included alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use among adolescents. The aim of their study was therefore to discover relations between the two drug abuse and playing video games (among teenagers). Kids that play games seem to share common psychological traits: which if affected by substance abuse could predispose them to problematic use of video games (PUVG). The study therefore hypothesized that there is a personality sketch mutual among players that have PUVG and young teenagers engaging in video games are at a threat of becoming PUVG. Since the study targeted teenagers, the research therefore focused on gathering data from participants of this age group (11-17 years). By use of an auto-questionnaire, the research efforts targeted teenagers in middle school and high school: all in all 1423 in number. The auto-questionnaire was divided into two parts (part one – profiling questions and part two – data collection) and used as a method of collecting data. The first part of the questionnaire profiled the teens according to age, gender and year of education. The second part was distributed into four subdivisions. Section one was used to gather data on each participants gaming frequencies. The gaming frequency was also used to profile an average player from a PUVG player. The second section collected data on frequency of alcohol in-take, frequency of drunkenness and quantity consumed by each participant. This was essentially an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Short Version (AUDIT-C). The third section collected data on tobacco consumption; this was the method used to administer the Heavy Smoking Index (HSI) test. Lastly, the last section was designed to collect data on consumption of cannabis: by way of administering the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST)
Amanda Giordano et al did a research into religion and aspects of substance abuse in college. Religion and spirituality had a significant effect on the trend in substance abuse. Their research purpose was, therefore, to establish the connection between religious copying and religiousness amongst three kinds of collegial substance abuse: marijuana use, hazardous drinking, and psycho stimulant use. According to their literature review, research into the correlation between religious copying and substance abuse yielded results that affiliation to religion was inversely correlated to substance abuse. Patients recovering from addiction also showed a remarkable improvement when aspects of religion and spirituality as integrated into their rehabilitation process. Therefore, they hypothesized that a relationship exists between a person’s commitment to religion or assimilation of spirituality and the decisions on substance abuse. To test their hypothesis they used a sample of college students. The participants were undergraduate students in the United States. They were chosen from eight classes from a South Western University that was public and well established. This group was chosen based on convenient sampling method that suited the study. The sample was also engineered to be diverse enough in order for the study to represent the real picture on the ground. The participants were aged 18-25 and consisted of diverse races, gender, sexual orientation, academic prowess and participants of recreational activities. The final sample used consisted of 310 individuals for the study. They used questionnaire to administer the AUDIT-C test. This collected data on each participant’s use and abuse of alcohol. A Marijuana Use Index (MUI) test in the questionnaire established each participant’s use of the substance and a Psycho-stimulant Use Index (PSUI) was used to establish whether the participants’ use of the substance was within reasonable grounds or was tantamount to abuse of the substance. Lastly, a Spirituality Index (SI) was used to evaluate a participants’ spirituality in terms of purpose/meaning, innerness, unified interconnectedness and transcendence.
Suicide rates in America are at an all time high. This has been attributed to marijuana use among other factors. Melanie Rylander et al were among the researchers who wanted to establish the relationship between marijuana and completed suicide. They chose the State of Colorado – which has legalized Marijuana for medical purposes in the recent past. The state is also the only region that records the highest incidences of completed suicides in America. The objective of their study aimed to explore the correlation between medical marijuana use in registered persons and the completed suicides in each of the Counties on Colorado. The participants or target groups, were the registered users of medical marijuana. Marijuana has been linked to deviant social tendencies such as suicide attempts. The State of Colorado was absent of strict laws governing the access to this substance. This study therefore used data available in the county to inform the research process. The methods they employed entailed collection of the number of registered Marijuana clients: with the assumption that they were all users of the substance, establishing the number of dispensaries supplying marijuana in each county, the total number of deaths resulting from suicide, mechanism used to facilitate suicide, number of those hospitalized due to suicide attempts, the gender of marijuana registrants, each county’s level of unemployment, mean elevation and development i.e. whether urban or rural.
Discussion
Prior studies in the issue of substance abuse and suicides: they all showed a positive correlation between the two. This was based on assumptions on the anxiety, depression and events that are stressful. However, according to the research done by Melanie et al, there was no significant correlation between suicide tendencies, completed suicides and marijuana substance abuse. They experienced difficulty adjusting aspects of anxiety, depression and substance abuse. The especially, experienced challenges discerning the actual levels of marijuana in deceased suicide victims and obtaining accurate information on marijuana users. In the course of their research, it was also established that those who actually went through with suicide and those who merely attempted showed remarkable distinctions: thereby refuting previous studies on suicidal behaviors in high school students as a result of marijuana use. Previous studies that focused on the country as a whole, showed positive correlations between income and elevation, to suicides. However, this study showed nothing significant in these areas. In fact the only correlation there was, was between unemployment and marijuana use. The author however admits to limitation in the study. It was assumed in the course of the study that all marijuana registrants were users; however, this is not verified. It is also unknown what quantity was abused by each user. The study was unable to gather verifiable information on marijuana use or relevant information to adjust the parameter of their study: since this information was absent in the public domain.
In the study on video games and substance abuse, out of the 1423 participants, 1289 (92.1%) were recorded as average gamers. Approximately 17.7% (211) were determined by the study as PUVG players. In terms of substance abuse, approximately 8.3% abused cannabis and 19.8% abused alcohol. Approximately 5.2% of the participants were dependent on tobacco use. In their interpretation of the results, it was discovered that both video gamers and non video gamers partook in alcohol consumption and substance abuse, however, the video gamers abused alcohol more than those who did not play video games. However, the data recorded showed a significant difference between the two groups in terms of substance abuse. Previous studies showed a significant correlation between tobacco used and early initiation in teens predisposed by media. This was however refuted by the results in this study. The author however agrees with analysis of other previous studies that show significant correlation between alcohol abuse and playing video games. Also, PUVG scores were found to show no correlation with scores in the three tests: AUDIT-C, HIS and CAST. There was however a correlation between PUVG and early initiation into substance abuse. This study however had limitation as it did not affect external factors such as family feuds that would cause the participants to engage in substance abuse. The concept employed in the questionnaire measuring PUVG was also limited in a number of ways.
The other study was focused on establishing a correlation between religiosity, spirituality and hazardous alcohol abuse, marijuana abuse and psycho-stimulant use. Their research yielded results of a positive religious copying (PRC) and unifying interconnectedness as having an inverse correlation with hazardous drinking. Negative religious copying (NRC) was significantly correlated to increased incidences of alcohol abuse. These results are congruent with previous studies that noted inverse correlations between higher of PRC and lower levels of NRC and substance abuse. In terms of spirituality, the results also showed an inverse correlation with alcohol abuse, however, aspects of spirituality such as purpose/meaning, innerness and transcendence did not factor much significance this correlation. There was also significant inverse correlation between PRC, spirituality and marijuana use. Previous studies showed psycho-stimulant use was justified as a way to cope with studies. This study showed no significant correlation between religiosity or spirituality on this. This research is crucial to college counselors who are dealing with substance abusers: they can employ the aspects of religion and spirituality to assist such patients. The author however cautions that the study was limited by confidentiality issues that could impact the findings. Participants were not comfortable disclosing sensitive information on the procurement and use of illegal substances. The sample was also inadequate to provide conclusive results.
Conclusion
Substance abuse is brought upon by issues such as depression and anxiety. Family structures that are broken and abusive can also lead to substance abuse. However, in cases where such aspects are taken into account, there are other factors that also predispose people, especially young people, to substance abuse. These issues are broad and were previously not researched into. However, with emergence of alarming issues such as video gamers abusing drugs and incidences of suicide among substance abuser, more research resources have been put into these areas and borne significant findings.
The results on the research done on the substances abused by vide gamers and how this relates to PUVG is alarming and should be addressed. Video games are increasingly becoming popular and more and more young people are preferring to engage in video games as opposed to playing out in the playgrounds as it was traditionally. Legalization of substances such as marijuana that are known to be potent is another alarming issue that has yet to be addressed. The research efforts in this area uncovered no significant correlation between use of marijuana and suicides. This is despite previous studies showing a strong correlation. In the same light however, marijuana use is still dangerous and causes addiction. There are a few challenges as expressed in the limitations of the studies. A lot of assumptions were employed to control external factors that have a direct influence on substance abusers. Therefore, before these finding are applied, the stakeholders must review the findings according to their own unique demographics. There is hope however, since more research efforts are being aimed toward mitigating drug use. For instance, it has been identified that religion and spirituality have a curios relationship with substance abuse: they are inversely correlated. As such, school counselors are advised to use the findings in this research to benefits substance abusers: this can be done by incorporating aspects of religion and spirituality that were most effective in curbing the practice. I would however, like to see further research done to validate the claims of a close relationship between suicides and substance abuse. This will help in mitigating such events in the future.
Biblical Perspective
The bible has been shown to foster religion and spirituality. It has been explored in this paper and found to produce significant positive results in mitigating substance abuse. According to Giordano et al, the bible helps nurture the belief systems of young people who are still developing. With prevailing issue against them as they grow up, the aspects of religion and spirituality help them to cope with stressful events, anxiety and depression. It is therefore very important to inform their belief system while they are growing up. A strong belief system will bring forth a mature person who can handle difficult and challenging situations. Religion and spirituality is therefore important to young people and recovering substance abusers.
References
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Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (n.d.). Consequences of youth substance abuse. Retrieved April 26, 2016, from Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/drugid/ration-03.html
Romo, L., Adelaide, C., Cheze, N., Riazuelo, H., Plantey, S., Kotbagi, G., et al. (2015). Early Substance Consumption and Problematic Use of Video Game in Adolescents. Frontiers in Psychology , 1-4.
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