
Tobacco, Alcohol, and Substance Use in Children and Adolescents
Professional Resource Brief
- Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.). Information about this program to help fellow members solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. Includes an online directory of local A.A. meetings.
- Smokefree.gov: Talk to an Expert. Contact information to speak with a smoking-cessation counselor in English
and Spanish by telephone: (877) 44U-QUIT (448-7848). Also links to a text messaging
service and state quitlines.
- Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): Behavioral Health Treatment Services
Locator.
Contact information for drug- and alcohol-abuse-treatment and mental-health-treatment programs. SAMHSA
also offers a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information
service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing
substance abuse issues. Call for referrals to local treatment facilities,
support groups, and community-based organizations. Telephone: (800) 662-HELP
(662-4357).
- Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. A collection of fact sheets about the toll of tobacco and proven, cost-effective solutions that prevent children and adolescents from smoking, help smokers quit, and protect non-smokers from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.
- Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Adolescent Health. Information about societal influences on adolescents and the critical types
of adolescent health behavior that contribute markedly to the leading causes
of death, disability, and social problems among adolescents and adults in the
United States. Resources address high-risk substance use and tobacco use and include data and statistics, science-based prevention strategies, educational materials, publications and research, and program information.
- Children Now: Talking with Kids About Tough Issues. Tips for talking more easily with your kids about difficult issues, including drugs and alcohol.
- Guide to Community Preventive Services.
Improving Adolescent Health Through Interventions Targeted to Parents and Other Caregivers: A Recommendation Recommendations for person-to-person interventions that focus on helping parents modify adolescents’ risk behaviors, including the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
Reducing Tobacco Use and Secondhand Smoke Exposure. Recommendations for population-based interventions that prevent initiation of tobacco use among adolescents and young adults, promote quitting among adults and adolescents, eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke, and identify and eliminate tobacco-related disparities among population groups.
- MedlinePlus. Links to information for families in English and Spanish about underage drinking, drugs and young people, and smoking and youth.
- National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics: Drug Use Among Youth: Facts & Statistics. General statistics of drug use in youth, as well as statistics by type of drug and age group.
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Research information, data, news, and resources for professionals and families about alcohol consumption, prevention, and treatment. Initiatives include the College Drinking Prevention. Recent resources include
Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth: A Practitioner's Guide. (2011). (Developed in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
Underage Drinking. (2020). [Brochure]
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Program information and
publications for health professionals and researchers about the health aspects
of drug abuse and addiction to inform policy and improve practice. Includes
drug-use screening tools, publications about drug abuse and mental illness
(comorbidity), research summaries about prevention and treatment, and statistics
about drug use. Resources for parents, teachers, students, and young adults
include fact sheets
on specific
drugs, prevention curricula, and Spanish-language materials. Also see NIDA for Teens. Recent publications include
DrugFacts: Electronic Cigarettes (E-cigarettes) (rev.). (2020 [Fact sheet].
Seeking Drug Abuse Treatment: Know What to Ask. (2011; Revised 2013). [Brochure].
- Partnership at Drugfree.org. Science-based resources and information about community-education programs
to help parents prevent, intervene in, and find treatment for drug and alcohol
use by their adolescents and young adults. Includes a drug guide with information
on more than 40 commonly abused drugs.
- Rutgers University Center of Alcohol Studies: Alcohol Studies Database. Citations for journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, and audio-visual materials about alcohol, including adolescents and alcohol and adolescents and drugs.
- Smokefree Teen. Information for adolescents about the harmful effects of smoking and secondhand smoke on their health and tools to stop smoking. Also see the companion website Smokefree
Español.
- Stop Underage Drinking. Links to resources developed by federal agencies about underage drinking and
strategies for prevention and treatment. Includes resources designed for health
and social services professionals, parents, adolescents, community
and faith-based organizations, businesses, educators, and law-enforcement agencies.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Resources for health and social services professionals, educators, and families about substance abuse;
treatment, prevention, and recovery; service delivery and practice
issues; research; data; and grants. Includes publications about specific substances. Some materials are available in Spanish. Resources
include
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive (SAMHDA) Substance abuse and mental health research data, including those that focus on children and adolescents.
National Trends in Substance Use and Use Disorders Among Youths (2017).
- Committee on Substance Abuse. 2011. Substance Use Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment for Pediatricians. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). [Policy statement].
- Office of the Surgeon General. 2012. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults. Rockville, MD: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). [Report, Consumer booklet, Fact sheets, Public service announcement, Promotional buttons, E-card].
-
U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA): Youth and Tobacco. Discusses multiple aspects of the Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan, a key component of the FDA’s larger comprehensive plan for tobacco and nicotine regulation.
Related MCH Digital Library Resources
- Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental Health Challenges in Children and Adolescents professional resource guide (Includes resources about parental substance use), family resource brief, school resource brief
- Health Insurance and Access to Care for Children and Adolescents professional resource guide, family resource brief
- Medications resource brief
- Smoking/Tobacco Use Prevention bibliography
- Tobacco, Alcohol, and Substance Use During Preconception and Pregnancy resource brief
Tobacco, Alcohol, and Substance Use in Children and Adolescents: Resource Brief, 2nd ed. November 2011. Updated: December 2014; March 2022, November 2024.
Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Digital Library.
Reviewers: Olivia Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Digital Library.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Digital Library.