Cigarette, marijuana, and alcohol use and prior drug treatment among newly homeless young adults in New York City: Relationship to a history of foster care

Background

This study examined whether a history of foster care was associated with the risk for substance use among newly homeless young adults, controlling for demographics and other risk factors.

Methods

Multiple logistic regression analyses, adjusted for controls, among consecutive admissions of 424 newly homeless young adults (18-21 years), determined the association between foster care and substance use.

Results

A history of foster care was reported by 35% of the sample. Alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes were the most frequently used substances. After adjusting for demographics, childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, prior arrest, unemployment, lack of high school diploma, and family drug use, homeless young adults with histories of foster care were: three times as likely to smoke cigarettes (AOR = 3.09); more than three times as likely to use marijuana (AOR = 3.30); and almost nine times as likely to have been in drug treatment (AOR = 8.81) than those without such histories.

Conclusions

It is important to screen homeless young adults who exited foster care for substance use, particularly cigarettes and marijuana. Risk reduction interventions should be targeted and tailored to their substance prevention needs.