Digital and Substance Abuse Among Youth: A Public Health Nursing Perspective

This review carried out to examine the increasing prevalence of digital and substance addiction among young people, its causes and adverse effects on health. While digital addiction defined as a type of behavioral addiction that occurs when the use of social media, video games and the internet reach an excessive level, substance addiction includes the use of substances such as tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and e-cigarettes. Both types of addiction seriously affect the physical, psychological and social health of young people and reduce their quality of life. This study is based on a literature search in PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases using the keywords "digital addiction", "substance abuse", "young people" and "public health nursing". Recent studies have revealed that these addictions are quite common among young people and often have common risk factors. It has been emphasized that public health nurses play an essential role in the prevention and management of addictions. Raising awareness about addictive behaviors among young people, organizing training programs, providing early interventions and providing counseling services are among the prominent strategies in this context. However, it is suggested that policymakers and health professionals should collaborate to overcome this problem by adopting a multidisciplinary approach.