Illicit Drug Use From Adolescence to Young Adulthood Among Child Welfare-Involved Youths

Abstract

This study examined illicit substance use among 1,004 adolescents, ages 11–21, involved with the Child Welfare System (CWS) and followed from 1999 to 2007. By the time they reached transition age, more than 60% of the sample had used an illicit substance in their lifetime. Predictors of regular use during adolescence were having a prior CWS report, externalizing behavior problems, delinquency, and any sexual experience. Exposure to physical abuse was predictive of escalating substance use trajectories. Protective factors included having a child at any point during the study, parental monitoring, and being placed in kinship care.

Keywords:

• adolescents
• child welfare
• illicit drug use
• NSCAW
• young adults

Acknowledgments

Support for the study comes from a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the first author. The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being was developed under contract to RTI International from the Administration of Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Conclusions do not necessarily represent those of the Administration of Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Notes

Notes. All analyses are on weighted data; Ns are unweighted. Reported Ns vary slightly across analyses because of missing data in some variable categories.

^a Adolescents 11 years old were significantly less likely to have used any illicit drug in the past 30 days than 12- to 13-year-olds (p < .05) or 14- to 15-year-olds (p < .01).

^b Adolescents 11 years old were significantly less likely to have used marijuana in the past 30 days than 12- to 13-year-olds (p < .05) or 14- to 15-year-olds (p < .001).

^c Adolescents 12 to 13 years old were significantly less likely to have used any illicit drug in the past 30 days than 16- to 17-year-olds (p < .01).

^d Adolescents 16 to 17 years old were significantly more likely to have used marijuana in the past 30 days than 12- to 13-year-olds (p < .01) or 14- to 15-year-olds (p < .05).

^e Adolescents 14 to 15 years old were significantly less likely to have used any illicit drug in the past 30 days than 16- to 17-year-olds (p < .01).

^f Adolescents 16 to 17 years old were significantly more likely to have used marijuana in the past 30 days than 12- to 13-year-olds (p < .001) or 14- to 15-year-olds (p < .01).

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Notes. All analyses are on weighted data; Ns are unweighted. Reported Ns vary slightly across analyses because of missing data in some variable categories. Twenty-seven youths under 14 years old at the time of the last follow-up were included in the category 14–15. Illicit drugs include marijuana, inhalants, and hard drugs.

*p < .05. ***p < .001.

Notes. All analyses are on weighted data; Ns are unweighted. Reported Ns vary slightly across analyses because of missing data in some variable categories. NS = Not statistically significant.

*Significantly different at p < .05, compared with any lesser category of use.

^a Intercept corresponds to the baseline level of drug use.

^b Slope corresponds to the substance use trajectory class.