Elite High School Students at Higher Risk of Addiction

Teens at elite high schools in the United States seem to face a greater risk of addiction as young adults. In this study, researchers followed more than 500 students from affluent
communities starting in their senior year of high school, through college, and from ages 23 to 27. Compared with the overall
population of people in their 20s, these individuals had a roughly two- to three-times greater risk for drug or alcohol addiction
during young adulthood. Study author Dr. Suniya Luthar explains, “Paradoxical though it may seem, these ostensibly privileged youth, many of who start experimenting early and often with drinking and drugs, could well be among the groups at highest risk for alcoholism and addiction in adulthood… This is a problem that derives from multiple levels of influence, so we’re going to need interventions at multiple levels to tackle it.” Development and Psychopathology, May 2017