Deck 28: Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse

Question 1

Describe the three key components (epidemiologic triad) of understanding a public health problem so that drug and alcohol use/abuse can be understood in the context of behavioral health.

Answer 1

The three key factors are:
a. The host is the individual with the problem.
b. The agent is the substance.
c. The environment includes social, economic, physical, political, and cultural settings in which the host and agent interact.
(See text for detailed descriptions.)

Question 2

Discuss the prevalence of alcohol and illicit drug use in high school seniors compared to the overall U.S. population.

Answer 2

Alcohol is the most commonly used drug among these youth, albeit, at a lower rate than overall U.S. levels. Higher percentages of high school seniors report current illicit drug use, specifically marijuana, cocaine, prescription narcotics, and tranquilizers, than the U.S. population, and these rates have remained relatively stable over the past few years.

Question 3

Under the framework of the Bio/Psycho/Social Interaction, what do the Biological/Genetic factors include?

Answer 3

The Biological/Genetic processes influencing behavior include heritability and biologically conditioned aspects of addiction.

Question 4

Community prevention, which includes primary, secondary, and/or tertiary prevention, is unique to public health. Describe what each type of prevention focuses on when it comes to drug and alcohol use/abuse.