A unique longitudinal study is the first to analyze insomnia in adolescents both in association with mental health problems during adolescence and as a risk factor for mental health problems in young adulthood

A new study of homeless youth suggests that treating substance abuse and mental health problems may not be enough to help get teens off the streets.

The troubling link between boom towns and high rates of substance abuse is usually attributed to workers having too much money and too little to do. But a recent study of one Canadian community suggests underlying pressures including loneliness, a lack of healthy social connections and a need to “keep up with the Joneses”.

A new study finds that the use of stimulant drugs to treat children with ADHD has no effect on their future risk of substance abuse.

Only about 6 percent of former alcoholics and 4 percent of former illicit drug users will relapse into their addictions in any given year following an organ transplant. These results are published in the February issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal by John Wiley & Sons. The article is also available online via Wiley Interscience.

An alarming rise in drug-related problems amongst militia in southern and central Somalia, which has not been under the control of any type of government for more than a decade, is reported in a study published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.

Approximately 15 percent of teens receiving routine outpatient medical care in a New England primary care network had positive results on a substance abuse screening test, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

The anticipation of a cocaine fix and the actual craving to abuse the drug are two closely related phenomena, according to new evidence published today in the online open access journal Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy.

Approximately 50 percent of Americans over the age of 12 currently drink alcohol, according to a 2003 report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. While the majority of people who drink alcohol do not become violent, overwhelming evidence implicates alcohol in the expression of violence.

High-risk teenagers who participate in peer-led substance abuse prevention programs reduce their drug use by approximately 15 percent versus traditional curricula, suggests a study led by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC). The study will appear in the journal Addiction, and is now available online.

The types of friendships adolescents have often reflect their childhood relationships and predict how they do in the future. In a new study, researchers found that antisocial teenagers’ friendships tend to involve less listening, eye contact, and responsiveness, and that these teens spend more time talking about deviant topics such as substance abuse and breaking the law.

Thousands of young Australians dealing with the dual problems of substance abuse and mental illness may be being denied help. A conference in Melbourne has heard that many services are not handling the joint issues properly and are simply passing young, vulnerable clients on to other services.