About this Research Topic
Adolescence is a key developmental stage for initiating behaviours like smoking, alcohol consumption, or other psychoactive substance misuse. Risk factors include social influences and peer pressure, influences in the media and social media, school pressures, bullying, low self-esteem, or parental/sibling use. Young people who initiate these behaviors are more likely to become addicted and to develop chronic health problems. Therefore, prevention and cessation of adolescent smoking, alcohol consumption, and other psychoactive substance misuse is a major public health concern on a global scale.
Reviews Research have highlighted that whilst there are evidence-based interventions targeting prevention or cessation of adolescent smoking, alcohol consumption, or other psychoactive substance misuse in high-income settings, there is a lack of corresponding high-quality evidence in low-middle income countries (LMICs). Challenges can also arise when evidence-based interventions designed in high-income countries prove unsuitable for LMIC contexts without significant modification.
The prevalence of adolescent smoking, alcohol consumption, or other psychoactive substance misuse is typically higher in LMICs. Smoking rates, for example, are declining in high-income countries but remain high in LMICs, with over 80% of the world's 1.3 billion tobacco users now residing in LMICs. This may be partly because the tobacco industry has strategically focused on LMICs as its markets have become eroded by increasing tobacco control measures elsewhere. In both high-income countries and LMICs, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have also become increasingly popular amongst adolescents since their introduction to the market in the mid-2000s, due to widescale marketing on social media.
This Research Topic aims to increase knowledge of successful strategies targeting adolescent smoking, vaping, alcohol consumption, and psychoactive substance misuse in LMICs, with a view to informing future research, policy, and practice. One way to do this may be to investigate how successful intervention strategies from high-income settings can be appropriately adapted for the local context and culture in LMICs . We are also interested in research which offers a multidisciplinary perspective to foster new and innovative ways of tackling this public health challenge.
We are particularly interested in the following themes, but also welcome submissions related to the research area in general:
• Studies examining the prevalence, trends, influences, protective factors and/or risk factors for adolescent smoking, alcohol consumption, or psychoactive substance misuse in LMICs.
• Experimental studies and mediation analyses (or related reviews) investigating effective intervention strategies for prevention and/or cessation of adolescent smoking, alcohol consumption, or psychoactive substance misuse.
• Cultural and linguistic adaptation of interventions.
• Social network processes for adolescent smoking, alcohol consumption, or psychoactive substance misuse.
• Heterogeneity in behavioral mechanisms or intervention effectiveness between individuals, and across contexts (e.g., between high-income settings and LMICs, other contextual differences, or according to individuals' characteristics). Authors are encouraged to make recommendations for how prevention programs and policies can be adapted to account for heterogeneity.
• The impact of globalization and the political context (e.g., changing tobacco control contexts).
Reviews Research have highlighted that whilst there are evidence-based interventions targeting prevention or cessation of adolescent smoking, alcohol consumption, or other psychoactive substance misuse in high-income settings, there is a lack of corresponding high-quality evidence in low-middle income countries (LMICs). Challenges can also arise when evidence-based interventions designed in high-income countries prove unsuitable for LMIC contexts without significant modification.
The prevalence of adolescent smoking, alcohol consumption, or other psychoactive substance misuse is typically higher in LMICs. Smoking rates, for example, are declining in high-income countries but remain high in LMICs, with over 80% of the world's 1.3 billion tobacco users now residing in LMICs. This may be partly because the tobacco industry has strategically focused on LMICs as its markets have become eroded by increasing tobacco control measures elsewhere. In both high-income countries and LMICs, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have also become increasingly popular amongst adolescents since their introduction to the market in the mid-2000s, due to widescale marketing on social media.
This Research Topic aims to increase knowledge of successful strategies targeting adolescent smoking, vaping, alcohol consumption, and psychoactive substance misuse in LMICs, with a view to informing future research, policy, and practice. One way to do this may be to investigate how successful intervention strategies from high-income settings can be appropriately adapted for the local context and culture in LMICs . We are also interested in research which offers a multidisciplinary perspective to foster new and innovative ways of tackling this public health challenge.
We are particularly interested in the following themes, but also welcome submissions related to the research area in general:
• Studies examining the prevalence, trends, influences, protective factors and/or risk factors for adolescent smoking, alcohol consumption, or psychoactive substance misuse in LMICs.
• Experimental studies and mediation analyses (or related reviews) investigating effective intervention strategies for prevention and/or cessation of adolescent smoking, alcohol consumption, or psychoactive substance misuse.
• Cultural and linguistic adaptation of interventions.
• Social network processes for adolescent smoking, alcohol consumption, or psychoactive substance misuse.
• Heterogeneity in behavioral mechanisms or intervention effectiveness between individuals, and across contexts (e.g., between high-income settings and LMICs, other contextual differences, or according to individuals' characteristics). Authors are encouraged to make recommendations for how prevention programs and policies can be adapted to account for heterogeneity.
• The impact of globalization and the political context (e.g., changing tobacco control contexts).
Keywords: Adolescents; Smoking; Psychoactive substances; Tobacco; Vaping; E-cigarettes; Alcohol; Drug misuse; Prevention; Cessation; Smoking cessation; Smoking uptake; Smoking initiation; Public health interventions; School-based interventions; LMIC
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
