Why aren’t today’s adolescents using substances as much as prior generations?

Presented by: Jacob Borodovsky, PhD, Research Scientist, Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, Biomedical Data Science, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine

Dr. Borodovsky presented:

• Recently published analyses which have identified national declines in adolescent “socializing without supervision” as a possible causal mechanism to explain national declines in adolescent substance use;
• A current working theory of causal links between adolescent use of technology subtypes (e.g., videogames, social media) and national trends in adolescent socializing, substance use, and mental health;
• Future plans to use data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study to test hypothesized effects of digital technologies and identify environmental conditions that meaningfully alter the probability and severity of adolescent substance use and mental health.