Improvisational practice: engaging neurodivergent young people with addiction and mental health problems

Abstract

Issues and trends in relation to substance misuse, normally develop in the transitional phase of adolescence, as young people begin looking to their peers for connection and simultaneously question the values/attitudes of their parents and other non-parental adults. Risk factors are predictors of the likelihood that an individual or group may become involved in activity leading to adverse consequences. In relation to substance misuse, it is recognised that risk and protective factors exist in equal measure within different context including within the individual, family, peer group, community and school settings. Research indicates that young people, who are neurodivergent, are at increased risk of developing problems in relation to substance use, due to their sense of otherness and potential inability to read social cues, combined with a strong desire to fit in.