New research shows that upper- and middle-class students are using more illicit drugs than their peers from low-income families. They’re also more unhappy and suffering from greater anxiety and depression.
This breaks from conventional wisdom, but points to the idea that money doesn’t buy happiness; instead, money provides access to designer drugs, and brings a greater expectation to perform well in school and sports — all factors for an unhappy childhood.
Arizona State University psychology professor Dr. Suniya Luthar (who founded Authentic Connections, a nonprofit group that works to help students avoid such pitfalls through strong relationships with supportive adults) is sounding the alarm on the dangers of kids “keeping up with the Joneses.” Luthar also conducted this new study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
According to the study’s abstract, the results “emphasize the need to take seriously the elevated rates of substance documented among adolescents in affluent American school communities.”
“In short, you’ve got a bunch of different factors coming together. You’ve got the money, you’ve got the pressure, you’ve got the self-medication, social aspect of high use by peers,” Luther said in a telephone interview with the College Fix.
Luthar has been tracking these trends for decades.
“Suburban students had higher scores on substance use, physiological anxiety, overall anxiety, and days absent from school than their inner-city counterparts,” her 1999 study found.
Despite solid data, many assume it’s poorer students who are young drug abusers. Better awareness of these trends is needed so that parents can be aware of the negative repercussions of enforcing high or impossible standards to perform. Furthermore, parents should be aware that drug use among teens in affluent circles is more prominent than widely believed.
Alexander James is a contributor to Red Alert Politics and a freelance journalist.
