How teens and young adults misuse prescription drugs and other substances over time
Official title: Longitudinal Changes in Prescription Drug Misuse and Polysubstance Use in Adolescents and Young Adults
Funded at Texas State University · NIH-11146555 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work looks at patterns of prescription drug misuse and mixing with other substances in teens and young adults to find who is most at risk.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Texas State University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Marcos, United States) |
| Project start | June 1, 2017 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $306,634 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DA043691-06 |
| Project ID | NIH-11146555 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Teens and young adults roughly aged 12–30, especially those who have used prescription medicines without a prescription or combined them with alcohol or other drugs.
✕Less likely to help
People older than about 30 or those whose substance concerns involve only non-prescription illegal drugs with no prescription medication misuse may not see direct benefits.
What this research studies
This project uses large, nationally collected surveys (Monitoring the Future and NSDUH) that include thousands of people aged about 12–30 to study prescription drug misuse over time. Researchers will examine differences by age, birth cohort, and calendar period and will describe who misuses multiple medication classes and who mixes prescription drugs with alcohol or other drugs. They will also look at motives, sources of medications, age when misuse starts, and signs of substance use disorder. The goal is to turn these patterns into clearer targets for screening, prevention, and policy.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could help doctors, schools, and public-health programs better identify at-risk youth and reduce overdoses and long-term harms.
How similar studies have gone: National surveys have described rates of prescription misuse before, but combining age-period-cohort analysis with detailed multi-class and polysubstance misuse patterns is less common and fairly new.
Where this research is happening
-
Texas State University
San Marcos, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Schepis, Ty Stephen — Texas State University
- Study coordinator: Schepis, Ty Stephen
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.