Music television is popular among teens in Belgium as well as adolescents in the U.S. A great deal of recent research has examined how the portrayal of alcohol use on television impacts adolescent alcohol use. Previous research shows that adolescent alcohol use is associated with higher rates of television viewing in general. Music television often glamorizes alcohol use and contains more alcohol advertisements. Might MTV predict alcohol consumption and the need for alcohol treatment for adolescents? A team of researchers from Belgium examined whether television viewing and music video viewing specifically could predict alcohol consumption among adolescents (Ven den Bulck & Beullens, 2005). See also: Craft - An Alternative to Addiction Intervention The researchers recruited a rand...

Motivational interviewing is a method of alcohol treatment which has the goal of establishing intrinsic motivation to change within the client through examining discrepancies between goals and behavior, and ambivalence about these discrepancies. For example, an individual may know that he or she has drinking problems but may tend to ignore the extent to which these problems are interfering with a desirable life. Motivational interviewing helps the client to see the problem in a new light and to overcome ambivalence about change. Read on to learn more about the impact of motivational interviewing on underage college drinkers. You may also be interested in: Why Do College Students Drink so Much? Studying Motivational Interviewing and Underage College Drinkers Researchers from the Uni...

There may be an association between parenting style and alcohol consumption by adolescent children; however, it is important to note the availability of alcohol treatment programs for those individuals who have chosen to engage in drinking. In an alternative to AA, self-empowering addiction treatment programs are available to adolescents who may be seeking an individualized treatment plan. It is important to focus on the treatment of underlying issues and through the use of a self-empowering approach, adolescents can be offered a practical solution for their well-being. Individuals can learn problem-solving skills, good health habits, and self-control to aid them in learning how to live life with a purpose. It is important to have a treatment plan customized for a specific individual be...

Evidence based addiction treatment takes into consideration the trend between peer delinquency and alcohol consumption. However, there may be underlying issues present with adolescents that correlate with their alcohol consumption and aggressive behavior. Thus, it is important to consider the relationship between peers and adolescent drinking behaviors. Peers and Adolescent Drinking Behaviors - The Study Previous research studies have found associations between impulsivity and alcohol consumption, between alcohol expectancies and drinking behavior, and between drinking and aggressive behavior. The Acquired Preparedness Model (APM) integrates genetic influences as well as social learning to describe impulsivity as a major disposition for delinquent behavior. The APM also suggests that ...

Individualized treatment plans are extremely beneficial for adolescents in drug treatment because specific programs can be created to allow adolescents to work through problems of anxiety and depression. In an alternative to AA, individuals can use evidence based addiction treatment plans to reduce anxiety. Adolescent drug treatment and prevention programs tend to focus on illicit drugs and alcohol. However, the misuse of prescription medication is also a major problem among adolescents, especially those who have high levels of anxiety. Researchers at the University of Kentucky, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and University of Michigan employed latent profile analysis to identify three distinct classes of adolescent sedative and anxiolytic misusers (Hall, Howard & M...

In an alternative to AA, a self- empowering addiction treatment program allows each unique individual to target specific risk factors that led them to drink or use. Here, we explore research that suggests a link between ethnicity and adolescent alcohol use. According to the deviance proneness model, alcohol use develops in adolescence as a pattern of deviant behavior. This deviant behavior may be influenced by parental history of substance abuse, social relationship with deviant peers, personality variables, alcohol expectancies, and other variables. Studies suggest that ethnic differences may also affect the development of alcohol abuse and the outcome of alcohol treatment. Researchers from the University of Connecticut evaluated a deviance proneness model for ethnic differences in ...

Non 12 step addiction treatment programs provide individual treatment plans depending on a person’s age, personality, and addictive behavior. Alcohol-Related Media and Adolescent Alcohol Use - The Study Adolescents are more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol and generally consume it in a more risky fashion, compared to adults. Alcohol consumption during adolescence may cause permanent brain damage (at a time when the brain is still developing), injury or death (through automobile crashes and other accidents), suicide, depression, violence, date rape, spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and many other harms. Previous research shows that alcohol advertising is associated with more positive drinking expectancies. Because of ethical boundaries, it has been impossible to directly te...

Evidence based addiction treatment takes into consideration the trend between peer delinquency and juvenile drinking behavior. However, there may be underlying issues present with adolescents that correlate with their alcohol consumption and aggressive behavior. Thus, it is imperative that adolescents receive individualized treatment plans during alcohol treatment so that the individual is encouraged to find motivations that are deeper than the addiction. An individualized self- empowering treatment plan enables adolescents to focus primarily on underlying issues that may have been the cause of their drinking and/or engaging in aggressive behavior. You might also be interested in: From Adolescent Drug Experimentation to Addiction Peer Delinquency and Juvenile Drinking Behavior - The...