Prescription Drug among Adolescents
The article by Cynthia M. Hartung et al. (2013) gives an insightful review of stimulant use among college students. The article gives an introspective view of the overall behavior into three different aspects of stimulant users. It addresses the manner in which stimulants are used by people who have a prescription from an underlying medical condition, misusers, and those who do not use the stimulants. Hence, the article addresses the factors that lead to the improper use of prescription drugs among adolescents. It is because it features everyday practice and health issues such as Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in both adolescents and children. It further describes psycho-stimulant misuse, looks into factors among college students, and possible effects on emerging adults.
Ethnic/ Racial differences among the parents and peers greatly influence how prescription drugs are used as I was demonstrated in the research by Conn and Mark (2014). In this research, the participants are not chosen based on their ethnic/ racial affiliations. The participants are selected from four universities in different parts of the United States. There are a total of 1,153 undergraduate participants taken from universities in Rocky Mountain, two in Southeast, and the Midwest. Hence, different races/ethnicities are incorporated into the research by the utilization of mixed methods. The research required the participants had to provide informed consent then to complete rating scales. It was in an unbiased way because it was a fixed order. To protect the welfare and rights of students who were participating in the research, the study’s procedures had to be approved. Therefore, they sought approval from the Institutional Review Board from each University.
It is from this study that the prevalence of drug abuse and illicit use can be determined. This study is interpretive and exploratory in nature. It raises several opportunities to be used in future researches that are both concept validation and theory development. Since the study offers an opportunity to validate and refine concepts that arose from the inductive analysis. It is important to know personal knowledge of prescription drugs. It is upon determining knowledge that further elaboration and refinement is needed. It will be in terms of their internal dynamics (health) and personalities. There are other hypotheses that can be generated from the study to be tested and for further sampling. The question would look at whether there is a correlation between knowledge about either ADHD or the pharmacological aspect of the misused drug.
There is a direct or indirect proportional relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable according to Kelly et al. (2014). Therefore, the level of one’s education that is the independent variable affects how one misuses prescription drugs which are a dependent variable. An individual with low educational status is likely to misuse prescription drugs at a higher rate. Motivational contexts are the greatest driving force towards increased rates in prescription drug misuse. There is a direct relationship between ADHD and motivation contexts. In the research, by Cynthia M. Hartung et al., it is evident that the people who had been diagnosed with ADHD their rate of abusing prescribed drugs was high. Those of medical use attributed to 24 percent and non-medical use accounted for 13 percent. A number of medically prescribed drugs can either be stimulants or depressants. To use the drugs another contrary to the intended purpose is abusing prescription drugs. The article helps in understanding the risks of prescribing drugs that are likely to be abused by these medically intended users at a higher rate than by non-medical users.
From the article by Conn and Mark and Kelly et al. shows that the misuse of prescription drugs is caused by an underlying factor. The hypothesis that one can formulate is that it is from the direct influence of pre-existing factors that an individual tends to misuse a prescription drug. The research conducted by Cynthia M. Hartung et al. from its findings demonstrates that most people who misuse prescription drug have also a direct influence. Besides, the study is carried on students the common thing in the studies was accessibility to the drugs. The study was exclusively carried out on students with a known level of education. In this study, the level of education does not affect its findings. Thus, the results from the article clearly show that a change in one variable either dependent or independent does not affect the hypothesis.
The main aim of the research was to know the characteristics held by undergraduates using, misusing, and those who have never used prescribed stimulants. The study helps to explore the correlation between personalities and misusing prescription drugs. Hence, the theory that can be formulated can be used to create awareness among college-going students in effective and practical ways to prevent prescription drug misuse.
References
Conn, B. M., & Marks, A. K. (2014). Ethnic/Racial differences in peer and parent influence on adolescent prescription drug misuse. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 35(4), 257-265.
Kelly, B. C., Rendina, H. J., Vuolo, M., Wells, B. E., & Parsons, J. T. (2015). Influences of motivational contexts on prescription drug misuse and related drug problems. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 48(1), 49-55.
Martins, S. S., Kim, J. H., Chen, L., Levin, D., Keyes, K. M., Cerdá, M., & Storr, C. L. (2014). Nonmedical prescription drug use among US young adults by educational attainment. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 50(5), 713-724.
Hartung, C. M., Canu, W. H., Cleveland, C. S., Lefler, E. K., Mignogna, M. J., Fedele, D. A., … & Clapp, J. D. (2013). Stimulant medication use in college students: Comparison of appropriate users, misusers, and nonusers. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27(3), 832.