Family environmental risk factors for adolescent substance use: an integrative review of the literature

Abstract

Substance use continues to be an ongoing problem throughout the United States and worldwide. In terms of substance use initiation, adolescence is characterized as an especially vulnerable developmental time period. There are many potential influences that can affect an adolescent's risk for initiating substance using behaviors. One particularly influential factor is the family environment the adolescent is exposed to on a daily basis. The purpose of this project was to summarize the evidence on the topic of adolescent substance use risk factors within the immediate family environment. Following an integrative review guideline, three library databases were searched utilizing a set of key search terms in order to obtain all relevant studies related to this topic. Each relevant research article found in the literature search that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria was included in the review process. Research findings were extracted from these research studies, organized into common categories, and integrative summaries were presented. The results of the review were categorized and presented based on commonly identified influential factors that were examined in the primary studies. As a result of this review, it was concluded that many significantly influential immediate family environment risk and protective factors have been identified in the literature. The significance of these findings and the potential implications for practice, prevention, and research, are discussed.