When Is Teen Misbehavior a Sign of a Serious Problem?

Some warning signs are obvious—but others are harder to detect or may be mistaken for normal adolescent rebellion.

A new study, presented today at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) found that drug use, in addition to harming academic performance, may also indicate that teens are facing other serious personal problems.

Parents, teachers, and school officials can help teenagers at risk for trauma, mental health problems, and other serious health risks by staying alert for warning signs. Even substance use on campus, often viewed by school officials as an isolated disciplinary problem, may be an opportunity to help troubled teens.

“We found that students using alcohol or marijuana at school have dramatically increased rates of having experienced trauma and having poor mental health,” said lead author Dr. Rebecca Dudovitz, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and the UCLA Children's Discovery and Innovation Institute, in an email to Healthline.

“These are issues that some teens have a hard time communicating to adults and so might go unnoticed by school officials," Dudovitz added. "That’s why it is so important that students who are found using alcohol or marijuana at school are screened for other health issues and connected urgently to services that can help them.”

http://www.healthline.com/health-news/signs-of-teen-misbehavior-050414