Study Finds More Teen Girls Drink and Abuse Drugs as Coping Mechanism

Talk to your teen about alcohol and drug abuse.

A recent study published by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America has found that teen girls are more likely than teen boys to find the benefits in using drugs and alcohol as a means of coping. In fact, a recent study found that more than 2/3 of teen girls have reported using drugs or drinking as a means of coping with problems at home or as a way to forget the troubles that are happening.

MetLife Foundation paid for a nationwide study on teen drug abuse and alcohol abuse and surveyed more than 3,000 teenagers from grades nine to twelve in both public and private schools. What they found was that prescription medication abuse in student affects about 20% or one in five students in high school, many teens report having huffed or inhaled drugs or propellants such as freon, paint, or other chemicals, and teenage drinking rates have increased alarmingly.

While many have long believed that girls are less likely to abuse drugs or to drink alcohol than boys, this conception is wrong and in fact, girls are more likely to find “reasons” for doing drugs than boys are. Girls are more predisposed to doing drugs or drinking alcohol than boys are so it’s important for parents to not avoid the fact and to be aware of the reality that just as many girls are now doing drugs and drinking alcohol as boys.

Teen girl alcohol abuse is up nearly 10 percent just in the past year while teen boy alcohol abuse has almost leveled off in the past year and seen very little increase. For other drugs such as marijuana, the use by teen girls has also increased by about ten percent and for boys this use has seen an approximately 5% increase. What this means is that parents need to pay more attention to the activities that ALL teens are taking part in, whether boy or girl. Teen drug abuse is on the rise.

While stress is the primary reason for teen girls to use drugs, drink or smoke, there are also other reasons for the teens to be choosing a way to escape. More than half of the teens that do drugs have reported the need to relax in social settings and almost half of all boys that have reported doing drugs or drinking claim that parties are “more fun” when drugs and alcohol are involved.