Teens who use alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana while they are alone are more likely to experience health and behavioral problems as young adults, even more so than their peers who also used the same substances, but did so in social settings. These conclusions came from a study of 6,000 eighth graders conducted by the RAND Corporation.

Solitary alcohol, cigarette and marijuana users are less likely to graduate from college, more likely to have substance use problems as young adults, and tend to report poorer physical health by age 23 than their peers who were social substance users, the report said.

A Warning Sign

"While substance use is a problem in itself, these findings suggest that risk among solitary users is especially high," said Joan Tucker, a RAND psychologist and lead author of the study. "Solitary use is a warning sign that youth will be less productive and have more problems as young adults -- more problems, even, than others who also used substances during childhood. The challenge is to identify these at-risk children and find out what type of assistance might benefit them."

The study found that solitary users had lower grades, spent less time spent on homework and less time devoted to school activities. However, solitary users spent significantly more time going to parties and dating than other substance-using youth.

"This dispels the notion that these solitary users are lonely, socially isolated teens," Tucker said in a news release.

Other Study Findings

The study also found:

• Solitary substance users typically felt that substance use has positive effects on their behavior, allowing them to relax, have more fun, and get away from their problems.

• They were less likely than social-only users to think substance use is harmful -- that it impairs physical and cognitive functioning, or factors into behavioral problems.

• Solitary users reported higher frequency and quantity of substance use compared to social-only users.

• Solitary users in 8th grade reported using alcohol, cigarettes or marijuana three to five days in the past month.

• On the days they used the substances, they smoked three to seven cigarettes, had two to three alcoholic drinks, or smoked marijuana three or more times.

• Social-only users in 8th grade reported using substances less than one to two days in the past month.

• On the days they used the substances, they smoked one to two cigarettes, had one drink, or smoked marijuana twice.

These findings come from a study of 6,000 adolescents from California and Oregon enrolled in a program to evaluate Project ALERT, a drug use prevention program developed by RAND for middle school children.

^{Source: Ellickson, Phyllis L., et. al. "Does Solitary Substance Use Increase Adolescents' Risk for Poor Psychosocial and Behavioral Outcomes" Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. December 2006.}

More Information:

• Solitary Drug, Alcohol and Cigarette Use Puts Adolescents at Higher Risk
  
• Negative Self-Image Promotes Damaging Teen Behaviors
  
• Kids Most Influenced by Siblings' Drinking, Smoking
  
• Youth Drinking Spells Later Alcohol Problems

^{Photo: Darren McCollester / Getty Images}