Child Abuse Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Child Abuse, including details on family violence, examinations, long-term effects, psychiatrics disorders.

Substance use in maltreated youth: findings from the national survey of child and adolescent well-being.

Wall AE, Kohl PL

University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66044, USA. arianaw@ku.edu

The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics associated with different levels of substance use in a national probability sample of maltreated 11- to 15-year-olds (n = 1,179). Bivariate (chi-square tests) and multivariate (logistic regression) analyses were used to examine the association of adolescent substance use with demographics, placement type, and youth and family characteristics. Seventy-one percent of youth reported no use, 20% reported low levels of substance use, and approximately 9% reported moderate to high levels of use. Youth substance use was similar across placement types. Conduct problems and low caregiver relatedness were more prevalent for youth reporting higher levels of substance use. High levels of conduct problems increased the odds of substance use, whereas high caregiver monitoring decreased the odds of substance use. Caregiver monitoring may be a key tactic in attempts to reduce the likelihood of substance use in maltreated youth, regardless of placement type.

Published 12 January 2007 in Child Maltreat, 12(1): 20-30.
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