Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019;54(7):1226-1235.
doi: 10.1080/10826084.2019.1573839. Epub 2019 Mar 8.

Family structure and past-30 day opioid misuse among justice-involved children

Dylan J Shaw  1   2 , Trey B Warren  1   2 , Micah E Johnson  1   2
Affiliations

Family structure and past-30 day opioid misuse among justice-involved children

Dylan J Shaw et al. Subst Use Misuse. 2019.

Abstract

Background: To prevent opioid-related overdose among high risk youth, research on the predictors of opioid misuse (OM) initiation among justice-involved children (JIC) is needed. Living in a single-parent household, an important adverse childhood experience, is prevalent among JIC and linked to substance abuse. It is hypothesized that JIC who live in single-parent households will have a higher likelihood of meeting criteria for past-30 day OM than those who live in two-parent households.

Methods: The data in this paper were obtained from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (FLDJJ). Cross-sectional data on 79,960 JIC from FLDJJ were examined. To test the hypothesis, multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed.

Results: Over 2,000 JIC in the sample met criteria for past-30 day (P30D) OM. Over 27.1% of those who met criteria for past-30 day OM lived in a two-parent household while 21.3% of those who were non-past-30 day users lived in two-parent households. Contrary to our hypothesis, JIC who lived in grandparent-only households were 28% as likely to report P30D OM as those who lived in single-parent households. Those who lived in two-parent households were 16% as likely to meet criteria for P30D OM as those in single-parent households. These relationships varied by age.

Conclusion: Two-parent and grandparent-only households maybe associated with increased access to opioids compared to other family structures with fewer adults. The risk of increased access may be more harmful than the strain of a single-parent household. Disposal of prescription medication initiatives should target households with multiple adults and grandparents.

Keywords: Opioid misuse; drug abuse; family structure; justice-involved children; juvenile justice.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Flow Diagram of FLDJJ Data on OM.
Note: <1% (n=481) of 80,441 individuals were omitted from the study due to missing data on SU.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Predictive margins of past-30 day opioid misuse (P30D OM) by family structure and age (n=79,960).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Baglivio MT, Epps N, Swartz K, Huq MS, Sheer A, & Hardt NS (2014). The prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) in the lives of juvenile offenders. Journal of Juvenile Justice, 3(2), 1.
    1. Baglivio MT, & Jackowski K (2013). Examining the validity of a juvenile offending risk assessment instrument across gender and race/ethnicity. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 11(1), 26–43. doi: 10.1177/1541204012440107 - DOI
    1. Barrett AE, & Turner RJ (2006). Family structure and substance use problems in adolescence and early adulthood: examining explanations for the relationship. Addiction, 101(1), 109–120. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2005.01296.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Boyd CJ, McCabe SE, Cranford JA, & Young A (2006). Adolescents’ motivations to abuse prescription medications. Pediatrics, 118(6), 2472–2480. doi: 10.1542/peds.2006-1644 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bzostek SH, & Beck AN (2011). Familial instability and young children’s physical health. Social Science & Medicine, 73(2), 282–292. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.04.014 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types