Substance Use

While is has often been assumed that marijuana use is not linked to long-term cognitive deficits, recent data suggest that even after four weeks of monitored abstinence, adolescents who regularly smoke marijuana performed poorer on performance tests of learning, cognitive flexibility, visual scanning, error commission, and working memory. Further, the number of lifetime marijuana use episodes was significantly related to overall poorer cognitive functioning, even after controlling for lifetime alcohol use (Squeglia, B.A., J. Jacobus, & Tapert, 2010).

The current literature suggests that heavy drinking during adolescence does have a subtle, but significant, deleterious effects on adolescent neurocognitive functioning. Studies have found that adolescent heavy drinkers exhibit decrements in memory, attention and speeded information processing, and executive functioning. In a study comparing alcohol dependent and healthy control adolescents, Brown et al. (2000) found that drinkers recalled 10% less verbal and nonverbal information than controls, even after three weeks of monitored abstinence. A similar degree of reduction was found on attentional and speeded information processing tasks in abstinent adolescent drinkers. These findings are consistent with literature examining neurocognitive deficits in young heavy drinkers, which found similar decreases on attention and information processing, along with deficits in language competence and academic achievement. Deficients in executive functioning, specifically in future planning, abstract reasoning strategies, and generation of new solutions to problems, have also been found (Squeglia, B.A., J. Jacobus, & Tapert, 2010).

Please note that the books below are not intended to be self-help books for youth with mental health problems. Such works are intended to provide fodder for discussion and exploration of this issue. They are best read under the guidance of a parent, teacher, or mental health professional.