Rural Adolescents' Use of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana, and Hard Drugs Amy Thiele Drug use among adolescents has been a focus of research for many years, but only since the late 1970's has research on adolescent drug use focused on rural youth. However, rural and urban adolescent drug use patterns vary in some aspects, as does drug use among rural communities. Research should continue to focus on rural adolescents as a special population so that effective drug prevention and intervention programs can be structured to match the needs of rural communities. The goal was to identify criteria for accurate diagnosis and the best options for treatment. Research indicates that the single best predictor of BD is the presence of BD in the child's family.
Pharmacological treatment includes the use of lithium, antidepressants, and neuoleptics.
There is little evidence to support the use of electroconvulsive shock therapy with children. Psychosocial options include the combination of individual, psychoeducation, group, and family therapy. Specific consequences were those found in physical, socioemotional, and cognitive development. Children living in poverty early in their development face deficits such as poor health because of a greater frequency of medical illness and nutritional deficits, poor language development, and a wide range of behavioral problems. Research findings indicate that those problems persist and increase over time.