Trajectories of Substance Use Disorder in Youth After Detention: A 12-Year Longitudinal Study

• NCJ Number: 251906
• Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 56 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2017 Pages: 140-148
• Author(s): Leah J. Welty; Jennifer A. Hershfield; Karen M. Abram; Hongyun Han; Gayle R. Byck; Linda A. Teplin
• Date Published: February 2017
• Length: 9 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1999-JE-FX-1001; 2005-JL-FX-0288; 2008-JF-FX-0068
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The objectives of this study were 1) to identify trajectories of substance use disorders (SUDs) in youth during the 12 years after detention and 2) how gender, race/ethnicity, and age at baseline predict trajectories.

Abstract

As part of the Northwestern Juvenile Project, -a longitudinal study of 1,829 youth randomly sampled from detention in Chicago, Illinois, from 1995 through 1998 - participants were reinterviewed in the community or correctional facilities up to nine times over 12 years. Independent interviewers assessed SUDs using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children 2.3 (baseline) and the Diagnostic Interview Schedule IV (follow-ups). Primary outcome was a mutually exclusive 5-category typology of disorder: no SUD, alcohol alone, marijuana alone, comorbid alcohol and marijuana, or "other" illicit ("hard") drug. Trajectories were estimated using growth mixture models with a 3-category ordinal variable derived from the typology. During the 12-year follow-up, 19.6 percent of youth did not have an SUD. The remaining 81.4 percent were in three trajectory classes. Class 1 (24.5 percent), a bell-shaped trajectory, peaked 5 years after baseline when 42.7 percent had an SUD and 12.5 percent had co-morbid or "other" illicit drug disorders. Class 2 (41.3 percent) had a higher prevalence of SUD at baseline, 73.8 percent. Although prevalence decreased over time, 23.5 percent had an SUD 12 years later. Class 3 (14.6 percent), the most serious and persistent trajectory, had the highest prevalence of comorbid or "other" illicit drug disorders52.1 percent at baseline and 17.4 percent 12 years later. Males, Hispanics, non-Hispanic Whites, and youth who were older at baseline (detention) had the worst outcomes. The study concluded that gender, race/ethnicity, and age at detention predict trajectories of SUDs in delinquent youth. Findings provide an empirical basis for child psychiatry to address health disparities and improve prevention. (Publisher abstract modified)