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

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.