Lack of engagement is enticing youths to take drugs

Lack of self-efficacy and engagement could push young people into substance abuse, a conference on addictions among adolescents heard yesterday. Senior lecturer Damian Spiteri was speaking about the needs of substance-abusing young people in Malta at a seminar organised by the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. He referred to a study among teenagers, aged 15 to 17, who reached out to Caritas Malta, which attempted to give voice to young people with a view to contributing to the provision of targeted services. Dr Spiteri pointed out that those who took part in the study acknowledged that addiction inflicted not only a cost on the addicts themselves, but also their families and society. When asked why young people took drugs, they mentioned alcoholism and gambling in the family among others, but one particular reason that stood out was lack of engagement. Dr Spiteri said they spoke of the consumption of drugs as pointing towards some issue they had with making friends and being accepted. The notion of social needs and peer pressure came out very strongly, he said, adding that the issue of lack of self-efficacy and the fact that they did not believe in themselves...