More than 90 percent of adults with current substance use disorders started using before age 18, engaging in behaviors that affect healthy neurological and psychological development.

This handbook provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the nature and extent of substance use by children and adolescents. The authors examine the direct impact on health, safety, and well being, as well as that of families and communities. This book will enable mental health professionals, students, and policy makers to develop effective prevention and treatment services for children and adolescents affected by substance abuse.

• Selected by Choice as a 2013 Outstanding Academic Title

Louis A. Pagliaro is Codirector of the Substance Abusology and Clinical Pharmacology Research Group. A registered psychologist, his area of specialty clinical practice is the treatment of people who have substance use disorders, including dual disorders. He consults widely as a forensic psychologist in the area of psychotropic drug use.

Ann Marie Pagliaro is Codirector of the Substance Abusology and Clinical Pharmacology Research Group. Her specialty area of research is theory development and evaluation in regard to increasing the understanding of why people use various substances of abuse.

The Pagliaros have published over 300 professional scientific articles, consulted extensively with numerous governmental organizations, and have published sixteen books, including Pagliaros' Comprehensive Guide to Drugs and Substances of Abuse, Second Edition.