FrameWorks Institute Releases Report on Media and Organizational Discourse on Adolescent Substance Use

What’s missing from the public conversation on adolescent substance use? For one thing, it’s lacking crucial information about what makes adolescence a sensitive period for brain development.

That’s the conclusion of “Telling Stories that Explain,” a new study from the FrameWorks Institute. Researchers analyzed the communications content in media coverage and nonprofit materials, and found that the narratives the public encounters don’t tell the whole story. Better understanding of brain plasticity could shape a more informed conversation about a range of health policies and programs–especially those focused on getting ahead of potential problems with adolescent substance use. But Americans would be hard-pressed to find this information in media coverage, and when they turn to nonprofit organizations’ websites for advice, they might find only pieces of what they need to understand the causes and consequences of adolescent substance use.

What else isn’t the public hearing about this topic? FrameWorks’ analysis pinpointed several other important silences:

• Media and organizational materials do not incorporate values that explain society’s stake in addressing substance use. The majority of materials analyzed lacked clear statements about why society generally, and not just those personally affected, should be concerned about adolescent substance use.
• Media and organizational materials rarely explain how prevention and early intervention work and what they look like in daily life. As a result, people fill in these “holes” with their own, often unproductive, ideas about adolescent substance use.
• An innovative and promising public health approach featuring Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), receives virtually no media coverage.

This report provides experts and advocates with a detailed understanding of the communications environment that surrounds them and points to strategic opportunities to reshape it.