History of Being in Government Care Associated with Younger Age at Injection Initiation Among a Cohort of Street-involved Youth

Overview

Journal Drug Alcohol Rev

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2017 Mar 24

PMID 28334473

Citations 2

Authors

Brittany Barker

Thomas Kerr

Huiru Dong

Evan Wood

Kora DeBeck

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction And Aims: Compared to the general population of youth, health-related disparities experienced by youth exposed to the child welfare system are well documented. Amongst these vulnerabilities are elevated rates of substance use, including injection drug use; however, less is known about when these youth transition to this high-risk behaviour. We sought to assess whether having a history of government care is associated with initiating injection drug use before age 18.

Design And Methods: Between September 2005 and May 2014, data were derived from the At-Risk Youth Study, a cohort of street-involved youth who use illicit drugs in Vancouver, Canada. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the relationship between early initiation of injection drug use and having a history of being in government care.

Results: Among the 581 injecting street-involved youth included, 229 (39%) reported initiating injection drug use before 18 years of age. In multivariable analysis, despite controlling for a range of potential confounders, having a history of government care remained significantly associated with initiating injection drug use before age 18 (adjusted odds ratio = 1.69; 95% confidence interval: 1.15-2.48).

Discussion And Conclusions: Youth with a history of being in government care were significantly more likely to initiate injection drug use before age 18 than street-involved youth without a history of being in care. These findings imply that youth in the child welfare system are at higher risk and suggest that interventions are needed to prevent transitions into high-risk substance use among this population.

Citing Articles

A Review of Factors Associated with Age of First Injection.

McLaughlin M, Amaya A, Klevens M, OCleirigh C, Batchelder A J Psychoactive Drugs. 2020; 52(5):412-420.

PMID: 32795151 PMC: 7704573. DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2020.1804648.

Food insufficiency is associated with depression among street-involved youth in a Canadian setting.

Goldman-Hasbun J, Nosova E, DeBeck K, Dahlby L, Kerr T Public Health Nutr. 2018; 22(1):115-121.

PMID: 30305193 PMC: 7498245. DOI: 10.1017/S1368980018002574.

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