Aspects of Methamphetamine Abuse in Adolescents and Young Adults in a Thuringian County

Abstract

Background/Objective: Drug abuse is an increasing problem among young adults in European countries. We wanted to assess the prevalence of methamphetamine and cannabis use in young people and to ask for their socioeconomic, parental and emotional background. Methods: All pupils (n = 1,087) in the final class of 3 school types (­general school [in Germany: Hauptschule/Regelschule mit Hauptschulabschluss] class 9, regular school [in Germany: Regelschule] class 10, high school [in Germany: Gymnasium] class 10) and the first 2 classes of the vocational school (in Germany: Berufsschule) in the entire rural district of Altenburger Land, a Thuringian county in Germany with a total of 92,344 inhabitants were asked to fill out a 2-page questionnaire. In all, 920 questionnaires could be finally evaluated (mean age: 16.6 ± 0.07 years; mode value: 16; maximum range: 13–29). Results: In the entire group, 5.81% (33 females, 20 males) reported the use of methamphetamine, while 42.8% stated that they have used it only once, the remaining 57.2% specified that they have used it on a more regular basis, mostly once a month, but 14.2% had used it almost daily. With regard to the socioeconomic background, 55% of the parents of the methamphetamine users were employees and 10% of the parents were in a leading position. This was not different from the non-user group (p = 0.193). Unemployment of the parents was found in 6.5% of the methamphetamine users and in 4.7% of the non-users. Overall, 67.92% had a basic knowledge of the side effects of this drug. In 55.32% of the methamphetamine users, the parents lived alone, were divorced or widowed, while this was only 33.1% in the non-user group. Of all the methamphetamine users, 69% had friends who also consumed the drug, which may give a hint on the impact of a peer group. In the entire group, 29.84% were smokers (female group: 28.47%; male group 31.25%) and 25.5% consumed cannabis. Ecstasy was used by a total of 4.05% and cocaine by 1.53%. No participant mentioned that they have used opiates. Conclusion: Among pupils aged about 16 years nearly 6% reported to have consumed methamphetamine. This group has a middle socioeconomic background. Two factors were strongly associated with methamphetamine usage: a family with only a single parent and friends who were used to taking methamphetamine. The self-perception of users was generally considered to be a disadvantage as compared to the other factors.

Understanding the Impact of Deviant Peer Association on Risk for Stimulant/Amphetamine Use: The Moderating Role of Exposure to Violence

“…Greater deviant peer association was found to be associated with elevated risk of SA use at follow-up. This finding was consistent with prior research on the topic (Dhein et al, 2018;Wojciechowski, 2021;Yangyuen et al, 2020), thus providing additional evidence of the robust relationship between deviant peers and SA use. This provides evidence of the importance of reducing peer effects among JIY as a mechanism to mitigate the public health impacts of SA use.…”

“…It is through these mechanisms that association with peers who endorse antisocial values should increase risk for engagement in behavior like SA use. As noted above, prior research has indicated that association with deviant peers has been identified as a risk factor for SA use (Akbari et al, 2021;Darvishzadeh, Mirzaee, Jahani, & Sharifi, 2019;Dhein et al, 2018). For example, Wojciechowski (2021) found that increased association with deviant peers predicted increased odds of SA use among a sample of justice-involved youth (JIY) at follow-up.…”

“…This study then tested to determine whether or not deviant peer association moderated the impact of both or either form of exposure to violence on SA use risk among a sample of justice-involved youth (JIY). 1 Deviant peer association has been identified as a robust risk factor predicting SA use (Dhein, Schmelmer, Guenther, & Salameh, 2018;Wojciechowski, 2021;Yangyuen et al, 2020). One of the most prominent theoretical frameworks providing the mechanisms underpinning this relationship is Akers' (1973) social learning theory.…”

Impact of adolescent methamphetamine use on social cognition: A human-mice reverse translation study

“…This dose was selected based on previous studies in order to avoid the well-known methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity (Cadet et al, 2003;Isao and Akiyama, 2004;Miczek and O'Donnell, 1978;Sokolov and Cadet, 2006). The selected treatment schedule models a period of continuous drug use, which mimics the pattern of regular methamphetamine use typically observed during adolescence in epidemiological studies (Dhein et al, 2018), although it is not supposed to produce a marked neurotoxicity (Isao & Akiyama, 2004). Next, they were housed in their home cages until commencement of behavioural testing of social interaction (between 11 and 17 days after last methamphetamine or saline administration).…”

Different Effects of Cannabis Abuse on Adolescent and Adult Brain

“…Cannabis with its various preparations is frequently used by adolescents. In a cross-sec-tional study comprising all pupils in the 10th classes of an eastern German county, it was found that 25% of the pupils with a mean age of 16 years used cannabis [1]. Similar prevalence was reported by others: in Frankfurt, Germany, 35% of the pupils had experience with cannabis consumption [2], and in whole of Germany the 2016 report of the Bundesregierung shows 3.1% illegal drugs in the group of persons aged 18-20 years, and 23% cannabis [3].…”