A new study, led by Brenden Tervo-Clemmens, PhD, from the University of Minnesota Medical School, evaluated the association between substance use and psychiatric symptoms in high schoolers.
Two surveys-the regional 2022 - 2023 Substance Use and Risk Factor (SURF) survey with 36 Massachusetts high schools and the national 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey-confirmed using substances such as alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine worsened psychiatric symptoms in adolescents. The team also found a single substance use was not linked to a particular psychiatric disorder.
In an interview with HCPLive, investigator Randi M. Schuster, PhD, professor of psychology in the department of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, discussed takeaways from the study and how the comorbidity of substance use and psychiatric use is common.
“I do a lot of trainings with schools in Massachusetts, and the main thing that I really tried to impress upon the schools that I work…is this idea that for many young people who are engaging in substance use, substance use is often the smoke, but not the fire itself,” Schuster said.
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