Overview

Pediatricians and primary care providers (PCPs) are the first-line clinicians for children, adolescents, and young adults. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders within this population is high, with depression, anxiety and ADHD being most common. The morbidity and mortality of these disorders is significant, however they remain under-treated. Given the limitations of referral to specialty care, PCPs are tasked with managing these illnesses. Both in our experience working in a consultation center and based on the literature, PCPs face many barriers to doing so, including limitations in knowledge about and comfort in prescribing psychiatric medications.

By 8th grade, 20% of US high school students in a large national study report having used any illicit drug (including marijuana) and 10% of those same 8th graders report having had alcohol in the month prior to the survey. By the time of graduation, nearly half of high schoolers have used illicit drugs and more than one third had drunk alcohol in the previous month. Adolescent and young adult substance abuse have significant impacts on current functioning and long-term outcomes. Pediatricians and primary care providers are first line in identifying and responding to these concerns. This session will focus on reviewing the risk factors for substance use disorders, validated screening tools, treatment and referral in the primary care setting.

To Register

Click on the link to register https://forms.office.com/r/YCbe3Tf2m2

Objectives

At the conclusion of this activity, the participants should be able to:

• List risk factors and symptoms of concern for substance use disorders
• Utilize evidence-based screening practices to identify high-risk substance use and substance use disorders
• Recommend evidence-based treatment and appropriate referrals for substance use disorder in adolescent