The complex interplay between adolescent substance use, internalizing and externalizing symptoms

Recently, I had the opportunity to comment on a paper by Evans et al. 2020 published in Addiction.

One of the findings that interested me was that psychosomatic problems were associated with adolescent substance use.

Although the association between externalizing symptoms (such as hyperactivity, aggression, conduct problems) and adolescent substance use has been repeatedly reported, the evidence for the association between internalizing symptoms and adolescent substance use is more controversial.

I argue that this may stem from the complex interplay between these two symptoms dimensions (internalizing and externalizing). This complexity may be due to the heterotypical continuity of externalizing and internalizing symptoms, and the high comorbidity between the two.

For more on heterotypic and homotypic continuity of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, you can check my latest paper published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

You can find the commentary here.