14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists were able to determine in a new study that children do not become addicted to drugs because they are hyperactive – as previous researches suggested – but rather because they are defiant. The investigation was based on a population study that had lasted for 15 years.
The drugs covered by the research include nicotine, cannabis and cocaine. Children who tended to display oppositional behavior naturally were found to be the most likely to become addicted to these substances, PsychCentral reports.
In a paper published in the latest issue of the esteemed journal Molecular Psychiatry, the team explains how it surveyed a sample of 1,803 teens, aged 6 to 12 when the study began. The survey went on until participants reached the age of 21.
Of the test subjects, 13.4 percent were addicted to alcohol, 9.1 percent to cannabis, 2 percent to cocaine and 30.7 percent to tobacco by the time the investigation concluded. Most of the addicts used to be defiant children, the study found.