Kids in high-achieving schools: Addiction down the road?
But these "privileged" American high schoolers can be at high risk for problematic substance abuse across early adulthood, according to new research from Arizona State University. "We found alarmingly high rates of substance abuse among young adults who we initially studied as teenagers," said Suniya Luthar, a Foundation professor of psychology at Arizona State University and a professor emerita at Columbia University's Teachers College, who led the research. "Results showed that among both men and women and across annual assessments, these young adults had substantial elevations, relative to national norms, in frequency of several indicators -- drinking to intoxication and of using marijuana, stimulants such as Adderall, cocaine, and club drugs such as ecstasy." The paper, "Adolescents from upper middle class communities: Substance misuse and addiction across early adulthood," appears in the current issue of Development and Psychopath...