CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 130Child Welfare and AdoptionSubstance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesHomelessness and Social Issues

Substance use among current and former foster youth: A systematic review

Open access
Braciszewski, Jordan M., Stout, Robert L.·2012·Children and Youth Services Review
DOI 10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.08.011PMC PMC3596821
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Substance use tends to escalate across adolescence and into young adulthood, and can be intensified by experiences with trauma and maltreatment, mental illness, and exposure to parental alcohol and drug use. Despite the disproportionately high levels of these variables among youth placed in the foster care system, relatively few studies have focused on the measurement of substance use in this vulnerable population. The current review summarizes the published literature on alcohol and drug outcomes for current and former foster youth. Specifically, prevalence of use and diagnoses are presented separately, as well as a review of risk and protective factors. Discussion of results addresses limitations and suggestions for improvement in the measurement of these outcome variables.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.08.011

Cites

2 of 2 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The absence of these critical protective factors can mean that these youth face increased risk of homelessness, poverty, substance abuse, and other poor outcomes.

    “The absence of these critical protective factors can also mean that these youth face increased risk of homelessness, poverty, substance abuse, and other poor outcomes (Shook et al., 2011; Braciszewski & Stout, 2012; Dworsky & Courtney, 2010; Pecora et al., 2006; Winter et al., 2016).”

    From Intervention development to improve foster youth mental health by targeting coping self-efficacy and help-seeking (2023) · cites this paper as Braciszewski & Stout, 2012

    The review’s “Child welfare versus foster care” section reports that lack of connection to caregivers was associated with higher substance use, supporting that part of the claim. Its Discussion also suggests that scarce support services after leaving care could contribute to problematic substance use. The cited passages do not establish that absence of protective factors increases the risk of homelessness or poverty. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 32

  1. Aarons GA Brown SA Hough RL Garland AF Wood PA 2001 Prevalence of adolescent substance use disorders across five sectors of care Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 40 4 419 426 11314567
  2. Aarons GA Monn AR Hazen AL Connelly CD Leslie LK Landsverk JA Brown SA 2008 Substance involvement among youths in child welfare: The role of common and unique risk factors American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 78 3 340 349 19123753
  3. Barth RP 1990 On their own: The experiences of youth after foster care Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 7 419 440
  4. Benedict MI Zuravin S Stallings RY 1996 Adult functioning of children who lived in kin versus nonrelative family foster care Child Welfare 75 5 529 549 8795284
  5. Blome WW Shields J Verdieck MJ 2009 The association between foster care and substance abuse risk factors and treatment outcomes: An exploratory secondary analysis Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse 18 3 257 273
  6. Brown SA McGue M Maggs J Schulenberg J Hingson R Swarzwelder S Murphy S 2008 A developmental perspective on alcohol and youths 16 to 20 years of age Pediatrics 121 Supplement 4 S290 310 18381495 PMC2765460
  7. Casanueva C Stambaugh L Urato M Goldman Fraser J Williams J 2011 Lost in transition: Illicit substance use and services receipt among at-risk youth in the child welfare system Children and Youth Services Review 33 10 1939 1949
  8. Cheng TC Lo CL 2010 The roles of parenting and child welfare services in alcohol use by adolescents Children and Youth Services Review 32 1 38 43
  9. Dube S Felitti V Dong M Chapman D Giles W Anda R 2003 Childhood abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction and the risk of illicit drug use: The adverse childhood experiences study Pediatrics 111 3 564 572 12612237
  10. Dworsky A Courtney ME 2009 Homeless and the transition from foster care to adulthood Child Welfare 88 4 23 56 20405776
  11. Hussey D Guo S 2005 Characteristics and trajectories of treatment foster care youth Child Welfare 84 4 485 506 16117260
  12. Keller TE Blakeslee JE Lemon SC Courtney ME 2010 Subpopulations of older foster youths with differential risk of diagnosis for Alcohol Abuse or Dependence Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 71 6 819 830 20946738 PMC2965480
  13. Keller TE Salazar AM Courtney ME 2010 Prevalence and timing of diagnosable mental health, alcohol, and substance use problems among older adolescents in the child welfare system Children and Youth Services Review 32 626 634 20305829 PMC2840264
  14. Kessler RC Berglund P Demler O Jin R Merikangas KR Walters EE 2005 Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Archives of General Psychiatry 62 6 593 602 15939837
  15. Kessler RC Chiu WT Demler O Walters EE 2005 Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Archives of General Psychiatry 62 6 617 627 15939839 PMC2847357
  16. McMillen C Tucker J 1999 The status of older adolescents at exit from out-of-home care Child Welfare 78 339 362 10335595
  17. Merdinger JM Hines AM Osterling KL Wyatt P 2005 Pathways to college for former foster youth: Understanding factors that contribute to success Child Welfare 84 6 867 896 16544569
  18. Narendorf SC McMillen JC 2010 Substance use and substance use disorders as foster youth transition to adulthood Children and Youth Services Review 32 113 119 20161424 PMC2786185
  19. Osgood DW Foster ME Flanagan C Ruth GR Osgood DW Foster ME Flanagan C Ruth GR 2005 Why focus on the transition to adulthood for vulnerable populations? On your own without a net: The transition to adulthood for vulnerable populations. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Transition to adulthood 1 26 Chicago University of Chicago Press
  20. Pecora PJ White CR Jackson LJ Wiggins T 2009 Mental health of current and former recipients of foster care: A review of recent studies in the USA Child & Family Social Work 14 2 132 146
  21. Pilowsky DJ Wu LT 2006 Psychiatric symptoms and substance use disorders in a nationally representative sample of American adolescents involved with foster care Journal of Adolescent Health 38 351 358 16549295 PMC1472845
  22. Ringeisen H Casanueva CE Urato M Stambaugh LF 2009 Mental health service use during the transition to adulthood for adolescents reported to the child welfare system Psychiatric Services 60 8 1084 1091 19648196
  23. Sakai C Lin H Flores G 2011 Health outcomes and family services in kinship care: Analysis of a national sample of children in the child welfare system Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine 165 2 159 165 21300656
  24. Shin SH 2004 Developmental outcomes of vulnerable youth in the child welfare system Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment 9 1 39 56
  25. Smith DK Chamberlain P Eddy JM 2010 Preliminary support for Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care in reducing substance use in delinquent boys Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse 19 4 343 358 20953309 PMC2953863
  26. Taussig HN Talmi A 2001 Ethnic differences in risk behaviors and related psychosocial variables among a cohort of maltreated adolescents in foster care Child Maltreatment 6 180 192 16705793
  27. Taussig HN 2002 Risk behaviors in maltreated youth placed in foster care: a longitudinal study of protective and vulnerability factors Child Abuse and Neglect 26 11 1179 1199 12398855
  28. Thompson RG Auslander WF 2007 Risk factors for alcohol and marijuana use among adolescents in foster care Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 32 1 61 69 17175399
  29. Traube DE James S Zhang J Landsverk J 2012 A national study of risk and protective factors for substance use among youth in the child welfare system Addictive Behaviors Advance online publication 10.1016/j.addben.2012.01.015 PMC3371387 22321315 · DOI
  30. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services 2007 Report to congress on promising strategies to end homeless: A review of research Washington DC
  31. Wall AE Kohl PL 2007 Substance use in maltreated youth: Findings from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being Child Maltreatment 12 1 20 30 17218645
  32. White CR O’Brien K White J Pecora PJ Phillips CM 2008 Alcohol and drug use among alumni of foster care: Decreasing dependency through improvement of foster care experiences Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research 35 4 419 434 17647108

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Braciszewski, J. M., & Stout, R. L.
Affiliations
  • Brown University (US)
  • Pacific Institute For Research and Evaluation (US)
Corresponding author
Braciszewski, Jordan M.
ORCID
Venue
Children and Youth Services Review
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-12
Volume
34
Issue
12
Pages
2337-2344
ISSN
0190-7409 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.08.011
PMC
PMC3596821
OpenAlex
W2026088031
Cited by
130
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1
FWCI
1.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Children and Youth Services Review (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Drug Abuse (T32DA016184)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Child Welfare and Adoption
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Homelessness and Social Issues
Keywords
substance use, foster youth, foster care, alcohol consumption, drug use, trauma, maltreatment, mental illness, parental substance use, risk and protective factors, prevalence, young adults

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review