The risk of committing a crime, including drug offenses, increases in adolescents.
Along with the increase in drug offenses, the majority of those in medical
reformatories for juvenile offenders are youth8 with mental illness, rather than those
with physical illness. A decline in executive function is one of the commonly reported
neuropsychological traits of substance dependents; however. most studies examine
substance dependence in adults. and there have been only a small number of studies on
adolescent substance abuse. limiting the type of substance to marijuana and alcohol.
ln this study. the executive function, personality. and behavior in male youths of a
medical juvenile reformatory, whose rate of substance abuse offenders is higher than
that in general. were investigated. The results demonstrated higher degrees of
impulsivity, verbal aggression, and apathy in youths with substance dependence than
in those with an equivalent lQ and criminal history without experience of illegal drug
use. A decline in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test results Was also observed in the
former. On the other hand, per80nality and behavioural traits, such as enhanced
apathy, were observed in youth8 with experience of illegal drug use without having a
diagnosis of substance dependence. These results suggest that it is important for
health care professionals to provide medical treatment and support while fully
understanding the personality and behavioural tendencies, peculiar to adolescent
substance abuse, such as high degree8 of impulsivity. verbal aggression, and apathy.