Consequences of Adolescent Drug Use

Overview

Journal Transl Psychiatry

Specialties Psychiatry
Public Health

Date 2023 Oct 6

PMID 37802983

Authors

Michael R Steinfeld

Mary M Torregrossa

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Substance use in adolescence is a known risk factor for the development of neuropsychiatric and substance use disorders in adulthood. This is in part due to the fact that critical aspects of brain development occur during adolescence, which can be altered by drug use. Despite concerted efforts to educate youth about the potential negative consequences of substance use, initiation remains common amongst adolescents world-wide. Additionally, though there has been substantial research on the topic, many questions remain about the predictors and the consequences of adolescent drug use. In the following review, we will highlight some of the most recent literature on the neurobiological and behavioral effects of adolescent drug use in rodents, non-human primates, and humans, with a specific focus on alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, and the interactions between these substances. Overall, consumption of these substances during adolescence can produce long-lasting changes across a variety of structures and networks which can have enduring effects on behavior, emotion, and cognition.

Citing Articles

Epidemiology of multimorbidity in childhood cancer survivors: a matched cohort study of inpatient hospitalisations in Western Australia.

Abdalla T, Ohan J, Ives A, White D, Choong C, Bulsara M BJC Rep. 2025; 3(1):15.

PMID: 40082620 PMC: 11906868. DOI: 10.1038/s44276-024-00114-1.

Synthetic Cathinones Induce Developmental Arrest, Reduce Reproductive Capacity, and Shorten Lifespan in the Model.

Mendes C, Maia D, Dinis-Oliveira R, Remiao F, Silva R, Barbosa D J Xenobiot. 2025; 15(1).

PMID: 39997376 PMC: 11856764. DOI: 10.3390/jox15010033.

Electronic cigarette usage amongst high school students in South Africa: a mixed methods approach.

van Zyl-Smit R, Filby S, Soin G, Hoare J, van den Bosch A, Kurten S EClinicalMedicine. 2025; 78():102970.

PMID: 39764547 PMC: 11701485. DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102970.

Diagnosing Adolescent Substance Use and Co-Occurring Disorders Using the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs Quick Version-4.

Welsh J, Durham R, Sitar S, Modisette K, Estrada B, Dennis M Psychiatr Res Clin Pract. 2024; 6(4):143-150.

PMID: 39669537 PMC: 11633490. DOI: 10.1176/appi.prcp.20230078.

Self-Perceived Health, Mood, and Substance Use Among Adolescents: An Analysis to Enhance Family, Community, and Mental Health Care.

Zafra-Agea J, Garcia-Salido C, Ramirez-Baraldes E, Vilafranca-Cartagena M, Colillas-Malet E, Portabella-Serra A Healthcare (Basel). 2024; 12(22).

PMID: 39595501 PMC: 11594031. DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12222304.

References

Zuo Y, Iemolo A, Montilla-Perez P, Li H, Yang X, Telese F . Chronic adolescent exposure to cannabis in mice leads to sex-biased changes in gene expression networks across brain regions. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2022; 47(12):2071-2080. PMC: 9556757. DOI: 10.1038/s41386-022-01413-2. View

Penzel N, Antonucci L, Betz L, Sanfelici R, Weiske J, Pogarell O . Association between age of cannabis initiation and gray matter covariance networks in recent onset psychosis. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2021; 46(8):1484-1493. PMC: 8209059. DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-00977-9. View

Brody A, Hubert R, Mamoun M, Enoki R, Garcia L, Abraham P . Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor availability in cigarette smokers: effect of heavy caffeine or marijuana use. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2016; 233(17):3249-57. PMC: 4982797. DOI: 10.1007/s00213-016-4367-x. View

Falcone M, Wileyto E, Ruparel K, Gerraty R, LaPrate L, Detre J . Age-related differences in working memory deficits during nicotine withdrawal. Addict Biol. 2013; 19(5):907-17. PMC: 3701751. DOI: 10.1111/adb.12051. View

Larraga A, Belluzzi J, Leslie F . Nicotine Increases Alcohol Intake in Adolescent Male Rats. Front Behav Neurosci. 2017; 11:25. PMC: 5319966. DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00025. View

Kruse L, Cao J, Viray K, Stella N, Clark J . Voluntary oral consumption of Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol by adolescent rats impairs reward-predictive cue behaviors in adulthood. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2019; 44(8):1406-1414. PMC: 6785709. DOI: 10.1038/s41386-019-0387-7. View

Brancato A, Castelli V, Lavanco G, Tringali G, Micale V, Kuchar M . Binge-like Alcohol Exposure in Adolescence: Behavioural, Neuroendocrine and Molecular Evidence of Abnormal Neuroplasticity… and Return. Biomedicines. 2021; 9(9). PMC: 8470908. DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9091161. View

Kundu P, Benson B, Rosen D, Frangou S, Leibenluft E, Luh W . The Integration of Functional Brain Activity from Adolescence to Adulthood. J Neurosci. 2018; 38(14):3559-3570. PMC: 5895042. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1864-17.2018. View

Renda A, Penty N, Komal P, Nashmi R . Vulnerability to nicotine self-administration in adolescent mice correlates with age-specific expression of α4* nicotinic receptors. Neuropharmacology. 2016; 108:49-59. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2016.04.019. View

10.

Ailing F, Fan L, Li S, Manji S . Role of extracellular signal-regulated kinase signal transduction pathway in anxiety. J Psychiatr Res. 2008; 43(1):55-63. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2008.01.018. View

11.

Lorenzetti V, Hoch E, Hall W . Adolescent cannabis use, cognition, brain health and educational outcomes: A review of the evidence. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2020; 36:169-180. DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.03.012. View

12.

Gabaglio M, Zamberletti E, Manenti C, Parolaro D, Rubino T . Long-Term Consequences of Adolescent Exposure to THC-Rich/CBD-Poor and CBD-Rich/THC-Poor Combinations: A Comparison with Pure THC Treatment in Female Rats. Int J Mol Sci. 2021; 22(16). PMC: 8396365. DOI: 10.3390/ijms22168899. View

13.

Thorpe H, Hamidullah S, Jenkins B, Khokhar J . Adolescent neurodevelopment and substance use: Receptor expression and behavioral consequences. Pharmacol Ther. 2019; 206:107431. DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2019.107431. View

14.

Sengupta P . The Laboratory Rat: Relating Its Age With Human's. Int J Prev Med. 2013; 4(6):624-30. PMC: 3733029. View

15.

Mokrysz C, Landy R, Gage S, Munafo M, Roiser J, Curran H . Are IQ and educational outcomes in teenagers related to their cannabis use? A prospective cohort study. J Psychopharmacol. 2016; 30(2):159-68. PMC: 4724860. DOI: 10.1177/0269881115622241. View

16.

Calipari E, Juarez B, Morel C, Walker D, Cahill M, Ribeiro E . Dopaminergic dynamics underlying sex-specific cocaine reward. Nat Commun. 2017; 8:13877. PMC: 5234081. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13877. View

17.

Hudson R, Green M, Wright D, Renard J, Jobson C, Jung T . Adolescent nicotine induces depressive and anxiogenic effects through ERK 1-2 and Akt-GSK-3 pathways and neuronal dysregulation in the nucleus accumbens. Addict Biol. 2020; 26(2):e12891. DOI: 10.1111/adb.12891. View

18.

Leishman E, Murphy M, Mackie K, Bradshaw H . Δ-Tetrahydrocannabinol changes the brain lipidome and transcriptome differentially in the adolescent and the adult. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids. 2018; 1863(5):479-492. PMC: 5987162. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbalip.2018.02.001. View

19.

Lewis D . GABAergic local circuit neurons and prefrontal cortical dysfunction in schizophrenia. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 2000; 31(2-3):270-6. DOI: 10.1016/s0165-0173(99)00042-9. View

20.

Fernandes L, Cartagenes S, Barros M, Carvalheiro T, Castro N, Schamne M . Repeated cycles of binge-like ethanol exposure induce immediate and delayed neurobehavioral changes and hippocampal dysfunction in adolescent female rats. Behav Brain Res. 2018; 350:99-108. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.05.007. View