Patterns of Substance Use among Child Welfare System-Involved Adolescents

• In Event: Learning Effective Approaches to Intervention: Examining the Impact of Behavioral Health Interventions on Adolescent Conduct Problems

Abstract

Research has identified that adolescent substance use is a central concern among families with child welfare system involvement (CWI). To date, however, research examining CWI and adolescent substance use has produced inconsistent findings regarding prevalence and rates of substance use and substance use disorders. Moreover, while the large majority of CWI youth remain in the home, to date published research typically focuses more on the subset of youth that are removed from the home when considering these issues. The purpose of this paper is to examine patterns of substance use and treatment engagement among a high-risk group of adolescents with varying degrees of CWI who remain in the home. In this sample, approximately 41% of adolescents self-reported using alcohol on a regular basis, 27% reported using marijuana, and 9% reported using other illicit drugs at baseline. The proportion of youth using these substances was significantly higher for those with CWI than those who were not system involved. Additional analyses will be conducted to test potential moderating effects of gender and examine the role of CWI in treatment engagement. Implications of these findings will be discussed as well as recommendations for future research.

Authors

• Nicole Piazza, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse

• Jacqueline Horan Fisher, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse

• Aaron T. Hogue, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse

• Sarah Mary Dauber, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse