Family and Youth Formative Communities as Protective Factors Against Addictions Among Adolescents in Poland: A Structured Narrative Review

The article examines the protective role of the family and youth formative communities against substance and behavioral addictions in adolescence. Its aim is to synthesize knowledge of risk and protective factors and to indicate how family and community environments can lower the likelihood of risky behaviors. The first part of the paper presents a multifactorial paradigm for explaining young people’s use of psychoactive substances, drawing on data about the situation in Poland. The second part explores the social significance of the family and participation in formative groups, especially religious ones, by referring to the concepts of social capital, normative socialization, and communal rootedness. The third part depicts Scouting and the Light-Life Movement as examples of educational settings that promote a lifestyle grounded in self-discipline, abstinence, and communal responsibility. Overall, the conducted analyses conclude that the protective potential of these environments is not automatic but depends on the quality of relationships, the presence of significant adults, the credibility of norms, and the communities’ capacity to respond to young people’s experiences amid ongoing secularization and cultural individualization.