ESCAPE Opioids: Exploring Sub-Cultural Adolescent Population Experiences of Opioids

Background: Adolescent substance misuse, specifically opioid misuse, is a complex challenge with multiple factors and environmental conditions leading to opioid misuse. The bright spot is overall adolescent substance use rates are declining. However, adolescent deaths resulting from fentanyl poisoning are increasing. This dissertation research was conducted in Berkeley County, West Virginia between May 2022 and May 2023. This site was chosen because the researcher has worked with this community in various capacities since 2019 and this county has one of the highest opioid overdose rates in the country.Objective: The purpose of this study is to explore the experience of adolescents living in a geographical environment with a high rate of opioid-overdoses to better understand under-researched risk-factors (e.g. values, norms, beliefs, attitudes, traditions) that may lead to adolescent opioid misuse in this county. The long-term goal is to inform interventions targeted specifically to address adolescent sub-population risks. Method: A systematic review of peer-reviewed journal articles was undertaken in 2023. Articles published between 2013 and 2023, that focused on adolescent opioid misuse were included. A total of 14 articles were included in this review. None of the articles were intervention studies. This exploratory qualitative research methods dissertation proposal used semi-structured interviews and photovoice to explore the impact of community opioid use and associated sub-cultural experiences among adolescents attending high schools in Berkeley County, West Virginia in 2022-2023. Conclusions: The systematic review demonstrated there was little evidence in the included studies that cultural factors are regularly assessed as protective or risk factors associated with adolescent opioid use. The heavy reliance on national and state data sets, which are often published a year or more after data collection and secondary data analyses of these that are published years later presents a missed opportunity to understand current drivers of opioid use fluctuations. Additional research that further explores cultural factors, beyond race, ethnicity, nativity, and language, is warranted to improve understanding and to create culturally-responsive interventions to reduce adolescent opioid use. Through a deeper understanding of cultural factors specific to sub-populations of adolescents, culturally-responsive interventions may be designed that could significantly increase protective factors and reduce risk factors in this populations.

Author

• Bates, Rebecca Alyce

• adolescents
• culture
• hermeneutic phenomenology
• opioid misuse
• photovoice
• social norms

Identifier

hdl:1920/14516

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:MARS:1920/14516