National Survey Finds a Decrease in the Percentage of Adolescents Seeing Substance Use Prevention Messages in the Media

A new national report issued during National Alcohol Awareness Month provides both discouraging and encouraging news about the state of efforts to inform young people about the risks of underage drinking and illicit substances.

The report, based on a series of national surveys, finds that a smaller percentage of adolescents (age 12-17) were exposed to substance use prevention messages in 2007 (77.9 percent) than in 2002 (83.2 percent). Similarly, a smaller percentage of adolescents are participating in out of school substance use prevention programs (from 12.7 percent in 2002 to 11.3 percent in 2007), according to the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

However, the report shows a significant rise during this same period in the level of adolescents who engaged in substance abuse-related conversations with at least one parent (from 58.1 percent in 2002 to 59.6 percent in 2007). The report shows that these conversations are associated with lower rates of current substance use by an adolescent.

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