School Counselors and Adolescent Alcohol Abuse
What causes adolescent substance abuse?
If a student reports to you that he/she is using alcohol, what is the policy for reporting to the parents? Do you only report when they describe their drinking in a way that puts them at risk like drinking and driving?
Per our counseling mandates, we have to report anything that is potentially harmful, which this is. With a student who is a chronic user, it can be hard because our goal is to get them long term help for the use or addiction, not just get them in trouble. However, I have found over the years that getting in trouble is a very good start to getting help, particularly for a teen. When I first discover for certain that a student is using, I first give them a few days to talk with their parent/guardian before I give them a call. We do make sure that someone has talked to or met with the parent, no matter what the level of use, as it is all considered harmful teenage behavior, not to mention illegal. It is surprising how many parents already know and are not alarmed by it.
How often do students talk about alcohol in comparison to other substances?
¡The substances I hear most about either by self report or by others about others are marijuana and pills; alcohol would be a third.
Is there a school policy for alcohol reporting?
Yes, if the student is suspected to be using in that instance, it has to be immediately reported to administration.
If you know of a students alcohol use, have you seen it affect everyone’s academic performance equally?
Pretty much any substance I have seen affects students the same, it more depends on when they are using and to what extent. For students who only abuse on the weekends, we may not ever see it and may just hear rumors.or those who abuse during the week, it could be that they are abusing before or during school or absenteeism is a problem. Unfortunately, it does not always cause huge academic problems, just like any functional adult alcoholic and continue to go undetected by others or cause the user to think they have it under control or it is no big deal.
Implications for School Counselors
Browning, A. R. (2008, November 14). Friends, family, schools, and neighborhoods contribute to adolescent alcohol misuse. Society for Research in Child Development.
Curry, J., Silva, S., Rohde, P., Ginsburg, G., Kennard, B., Kratochvil, C., . . . March, J. (2012). Onset of alcohol or substance use disorders following treatment for adolescent depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80, 299-312.
Froeschle, J. G. (2007). The efficacy of systematic substance abuse program for adolescent females. Professional School Counseling, 10, 498-505.
Lazovsky, R. M. (2008). Maintaining confidentiality with minors: Dilemmas of school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 11, 335-346.
McCarty, C. A., Rhew, I. C., Murowchick, E., McCauley, E., & Vander Stoep, A. (2012). Emotional health predictors of substance use initiation during middle school. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26, 351-357.
Moyer, M. S. (2012). When is it ethical to inform administrators about student risk-taking behaviors? perceptions of school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 15, 98-109.
- Adolescents with separation anxiety are less likely to abuse substances because of their intense connection to their parents.
- General and social anxiety are not connected to substance abuse.
- Depression may be a consequence of early substance abuse as well as a risk factor for substance abuse early in adolescence (early middle school aged).
- Adolescents that report perceiving high emotional support from teachers were less likely to participate in substance use.
- Teacher, not parent, support predicted the likelihood of students to participate in substance use and abuse.
- Neighborhoods, family dynamics, friends, and school environments affect the likelihood of alcohol abuse in adolescents.
- Adolescents are more likely to abuse alcohol when they are exposed to alcohol in their social environments including home, school, and social interactions.
- Adolescents’ abuse of alcohol decreases when the parent supervision increases.
- Family alcohol use increases the likelihood that adolescents will abuse alcohol.
- Adolescents who have Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) as well as Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and are treated for their MDD are more likely to successfully manage their SUD in addition to their MDD.
- Adolescents who are treated earlier for their substance abuse are more likely to have success in their treatment.
- Younger adolescents (middle school age) are more active in their recoveries than older adolescents (high school age).
- Adolescents who participate in general treatment reduce their risk of continuing to have issues with substance abuse in the future.
- A systemic substance abuse program consisted of hourly once a week meetings with the counselor, two parent meetings, action learning lessons and discussions, and several guest speakers.
- The use of a systemic substance abuse program by school counselors for adolescent females proves to decrease substance abuse, provide less favorable attitudes towards substance abuse, increase the knowledge of consequences in substance abuse.
- Active involvement in school activities promotes the progress of students in their treatment for substance abuse.
- Group solution-focused therapy is most helpful for students dealing with issues of substance abuse.
- There is a high variance in beliefs about when it is appropriate to report to administrators; most of the answers were dictated by the counselors’ own personal beliefs.
- When the behaviors are directly observed, counselors are more likely to report to the administrators.
- In order to ensure that the relationship with the administrators is strong, counselors should constantly communicate with administrators to see their perspectives and desired responses to certain situations.
- Counselors should ensure that they are receiving supervision from other counselors who have had several years of experience in order to ensure that their decisions are correct.
- Confidentiality can be tricky. Breaking confidentiality should be based on professional judgment, ethical and legal standards, and professional and personal values and morals. There is no true consensus among school counselors about when to break confidentiality.
- Important factors in decisions about breaking confidentiality are keeping up with updates on ethics and laws, consulting with others, keeping up with information provided about decisions, and regularly attending professional development opportunities.
- Counselors should update administrators and supervisors about the ongoing research on confidentiality and factors that go into the decisions on when to break the confidentiality.
If a student reports to you that he/she is using alcohol, what is the policy for reporting to the parents? Do you only report when they describe their drinking in a way that puts them at risk like drinking and driving?
Per our counseling mandates, we have to report anything that is potentially harmful, which this is. With a student who is a chronic user, it can be hard because our goal is to get them long term help for the use or addiction, not just get them in trouble. However, I have found over the years that getting in trouble is a very good start to getting help, particularly for a teen. When I first discover for certain that a student is using, I first give them a few days to talk with their parent/guardian before I give them a call. We do make sure that someone has talked to or met with the parent, no matter what the level of use, as it is all considered harmful teenage behavior, not to mention illegal. It is surprising how many parents already know and are not alarmed by it.
How often do students talk about alcohol in comparison to other substances?
¡The substances I hear most about either by self report or by others about others are marijuana and pills; alcohol would be a third.
Is there a school policy for alcohol reporting?
Yes, if the student is suspected to be using in that instance, it has to be immediately reported to administration.
If you know of a students alcohol use, have you seen it affect everyone’s academic performance equally?
Pretty much any substance I have seen affects students the same, it more depends on when they are using and to what extent. For students who only abuse on the weekends, we may not ever see it and may just hear rumors.or those who abuse during the week, it could be that they are abusing before or during school or absenteeism is a problem. Unfortunately, it does not always cause huge academic problems, just like any functional adult alcoholic and continue to go undetected by others or cause the user to think they have it under control or it is no big deal.
Implications for School Counselors
- Increase staff awareness of the potential for their support of the students in regards to substance abuse. Emotional support from school staff decreases the chance of adolescent substance abuse.
- Increase education of staff and parents about the signs of depression and the potential for substance abuse as a result of that depression. Depression can be a predictor for substance abuse.
- Remain aware of family problems and the potential issues of substance abuse based on those problems. Family alcohol use can be a predictor for substance abuse.
- Stay up to date on the school policies of reporting behaviors to administrators and parents.School districts have different policies on when to report.
- Remain aware of the resources in your area. Areas can provide different treatment facilities for students with issues of substance abuse.
- In order to ensure that the relationship with the administrators is strong, counselors should constantly communicate with administrators to see their perspectives and desired responses to certain situations.
Positive relationships with administrators can ensure the success of the relationship.
Browning, A. R. (2008, November 14). Friends, family, schools, and neighborhoods contribute to adolescent alcohol misuse. Society for Research in Child Development.
Curry, J., Silva, S., Rohde, P., Ginsburg, G., Kennard, B., Kratochvil, C., . . . March, J. (2012). Onset of alcohol or substance use disorders following treatment for adolescent depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80, 299-312.
Froeschle, J. G. (2007). The efficacy of systematic substance abuse program for adolescent females. Professional School Counseling, 10, 498-505.
Lazovsky, R. M. (2008). Maintaining confidentiality with minors: Dilemmas of school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 11, 335-346.
McCarty, C. A., Rhew, I. C., Murowchick, E., McCauley, E., & Vander Stoep, A. (2012). Emotional health predictors of substance use initiation during middle school. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26, 351-357.
Moyer, M. S. (2012). When is it ethical to inform administrators about student risk-taking behaviors? perceptions of school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 15, 98-109.