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Influence Of Abortion Stigma, Behaviour Pattern And Distress Tolerance On Substance Use Amongst Adolescents
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Adolescence is “the period of life that starts with the biological,
hormonal and physical changes of puberty and ends at the age at which an
individual attains a stable, independent role in society", (Balocchini,
Chiamenti, & Lamborghini, 2013). During adolescence one is
vulnerable to engaging in a lot of risky behaviours. Substance abuse is
one of such set of behaviours. Adolescents experience many problems ,
including teen pregnancy, alcohol and drug use and violence, school
failure and eating disorders (Callaham, 2003, Stein, Jaycox, kataoka,
Rhodes; & Vestal ,2003).
Adolescence is a period when
people usually begin using substances such as alcohol and other kinds of
drugs, (Chia, et. al. 2015). Adolescence is also a period of intense
brain development, and mind-altering substances could potentially have
more of an effect at this stage compared with other age groups. The use
of psychoactive substances by adolescents has been the topic of
extensive research activity over many decades. Adolescence is also seen
as a critical period both for starting to smoke, drink or use other
drugs and for experiencing more harmful consequences as a result.
Substance use is when someone consumes alcohol or drugs. Drug use is a
broad term to cover the taking of all psychoactive substances within
which there are stages: drug-free (i.e. non-use), experimental use,
recreational use and harmful use, which is further sub divided into
misuse and dependence. This definition does not discriminate between
alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, solvents, over the counter drugs, prescribed
drugs, illicit drugs, rather it focuses on changes in the body and/or
behaviour brought about through the use of such substances. These
substances are also referred to as psychoactive drugs, meaning that they
affect the central nervous system and alter mood, thinking, perception
and behaviour.
Equally, the definition makes no distinction
between the legality, social acceptability or ‘value’ of drugs. Blanket
definitions which attempt to cover these areas as well as the
substance/user/affect nexus often have weak logic underpinning their
meanings, making them vulnerable to challenge, particularly in terms of
highlighting inconsistencies. For example, if alcohol and tobacco are
not defined as drugs, what does that say about adult society which
approves and endorses their use, (not minding the health and social
costs they can both incur) but disapproves of the use of cannabis and
ecstasy by young people.
The use of multiple substances,
sometimes termed poly-use, is perhaps the most disturbing. There are
several theories that can account for the clustering of substance-use
behaviours. On a biochemical level, frequent use of one substance may
alter the dopamine system, and hence the reinforcement value of
substances. On a psychological level, a positive evaluation of a used
substance may generalize to other substances, including those not
consumed before. Adolescents who smoke and drink regularly have more
positive attitudes towards illicit drugs and higher odds of using them
than non-smokers who do not drink . Factors like family cohesion and
friends condoning substance use seem to have similar influences on
adolescents’ indulgence in smoking, alcohol and marijuana use. Different
forms of substance use may also have a common function. For example,
both alcohol and cannabis can counter feelings of depression, and help
to manage the after-effects of other drugs .
Drinking,
marijuana use and delinquent behaviours could all serve the function of
‘maturity landmarks’, or allow the adolescent to break societal norms.
Sensation seekers derive positive consequences from new experiences. For
some, high-risk sports provide excitement; others are inclined to
experiment with psychotropic substances. Finally, it is likely that
substance-use behaviours co-occur because they occur in the same
context. In many bunks, people drink alcohol and smoke. Expectancy-value
theories, on the other hand, state that the immediate determinants of
use are substance specific. For example, according to the theory of
planned behaviour (TPB) and related models, marijuana use is predicted
by thoughts and feelings concerning marijuana use. If an adolescent
happens to use a second substance (e.g. alcohol), intra- and
interpersonal factors specific to alcohol use are the most important
variables.
Within an Irish context, young peoples'
experimentation with drugs will often feature alcohol and/or tobacco,
given their prevalence and the ease of access to them. Availability
(particularly alongside curiosity), anticipation of effects, youth
culture and current fashions regarding substance use each play a role in
young peoples' experimentation with drugs. For the majority of people,
experimentation is confined to those drugs which are socially
acceptable. Experimentation with substances does not automatically lead
to recreational drug use or, indeed, dependent use and may cease once
the initial motivating factors have been satisfied.
Issues of
abortion for adolescents are embedded in the status and meaning of
abortion in the country in which they are living. Unwanted pregnancies
and abortion have existed since time immemorial. The seminal work of
George Devereux in 1976 on the history of abortion around the world
points to the frequency of abortion across cultures and time. Chinese,
Greek and Roman cultures all developed systems of dealing with unwanted
pregnancies and regulating population growth in their respective
societies. The Egyptians were some of the first to create abortion
techniques, which were discussed and reported in some of their first,
and our oldest, medical texts (Devereux 1976). Today, abortion is one of
the most common gynecological experiences; perhaps the majority of
women will undergo an abortion in their lifetimes (AËšahman and Shah
2004). Despite its existence across time and its persistence across
geographic location, the impact of abortion on women, families,
communities and societies differs drastically across the world. Safe
abortions – those done by trained providers in hygienic settings – and
early medical abortions (using medication to end a pregnancy) carry few
health risks (World health organization 2003). However, every year,
close to 20 million adolescents risk their lives and health by
undergoing unsafe abortions (Sedgh, G., S. Henshaw, S. Singh, E. Ahman,
and I.H. Shah. 2007). Twenty-five percent of these women will face a
complication with permanent consequences and close to 66,500 women will
die (WHO, 2007). The majority of these women live in the developing
world and half of those who die are under the age of 25 years (WHO
2007).
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 5]
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]The study assessed the influence of abortion stigma, behaviour pattern and distress tolerance on substance use amongst adolescents. In determining the influence of of abortion stigma, behaviour pattern and distress tolerance on substance use amongst adolescents, four (4) scales were used namely; Abortion stigma Scale by Shellenberg, KM, Levandowski, B., Hessini, L. (2014), Type A behaviour scale by (Omoluabi, 1997), Distress tolerance scale by Simon and Gaher’s (2005), and Substance use s ... Continue reading---
