Addiction severity of adolescents in treatment: relation to self-reported family transitions and placements in foster care
Adolescent drug addiction is a significant social problem because of its direct impact as well as its influence on other problems. Many studies have shown that a number of variables influence the occurrence of drug addiction in adolescents but few offer any insight into which variables are associated with the severity of psychoactive substance abuse. The aim of this study was to estimate to what extent the severity of drug addiction in adolescents admitted into specialized treatment is related to having lived through one or more family transitions (parental separation, deceased parent, restructured family) or placements in foster care (number and -duration), according to retrospective self-reported data at the time of admission into treatment. The results do not confirm the hypothesized relation between family transitions and severity of psychoactive substance abuse. However, placement in foster care was associated with the degree of psychoactive drug use among young people in the study sample. The greater the number and duration of placements, the greater the severity of drug addiction. The association was particularly significant in regard to the severity of use of illicit drugs other than cannabis. Well known variables such as the age and sex of the participants were also associated with the severity of psychoactive drug use.