Citation

Philbin MM, Mauro PM. Lancet Psychiatry 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY 10032, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30328-1

PMID

31521578

Abstract

Non-medical use of prescription drugs, such as opioids, stimulants, and sedatives or tranquilisers, has increased substantially since 2000. Compared to other age groups in the USA, young adults (aged 18–25 years) report the highest prevalence of non-medical use of prescription drugs in the past year (15·3%), binge drinking in the past month (36·9%), or illicit drug use in the past month (24·2%). Polysubstance use in the past year is also common in young adults, which increases their risks for negative consequences, including substance use disorder and overdose. Although measuring polysubstance can be methodologically challenging, latent variable approaches provide an opportunity to understand heterogeneous patterns of use.

Language: en