Psychotropic medication use in a national probability sample of children in the child welfare system.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to estimate the point prevalence of psychotropic medication use, and to describe relationships between child-level characteristics, provider type, and medication use among children in the child welfare system.


METHODS
The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being is the first nationally representative study of children coming into contact with the child welfare system. We used data from its baseline and 12-month follow-up waves, and conducted weighted bivariate analyses on a sample of 3114 children and adolescents, 87% of whom were residing in-home.


RESULTS
Overall, 13.5% of children in child welfare were taking psychotropic medications in 2001-2002. Older age, male gender, Caucasian race/ethnicity, history of physical abuse, public insurance, and borderline scores on the internalizing and externalizing subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist were associated with higher proportions of medication use. African-American and Latino ethnicities, and a history of neglect, were associated with lower proportions of medication use.


CONCLUSIONS
These national estimates suggest that children in child welfare settings are receiving psychotropic medications at a rate between 2 and 3 times that of children treated in the community. This suggests a need to further understand the prescribing of psychotropic medications for child welfare children.
Raghavan
Ramesh
R
The National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90064, USA. rraghavan@mednet.ucla.edu
Zima
Bonnie T
BT
Andersen
Ronald M
RM
Leibowitz
Arleen A
AA
Schuster
Mark A
MA
Landsverk
John
J
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012494:Sampling Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs