Substance Abuse and the Functioning of Transition-Aged Youth with Psychiatric Disorders

Abstract

Summary: Youth who had serious emotional disturbances or psychiatric disorders in childhood or adolescence generally have poor young adult functioning. Substance-related disorders increase dramatically from early adolescence to early adulthood in this population. The present study examined the relative contribution of substance-related and psychiatric disorders to decreased young adult role functioning by examining 15-25 year old subjects in the National Comorbidity Study (NCS) in which 8,098 respondents, ages 15-54, from a nationally representative sample of community households were interviewed. Findings indicate that substance-related disorders alone account for some but not other differences in functioning. Relationship to services will be discussed Paper presented on March 2, 2004. Proceedings published in 2005. Link to handout at http://rtckids.fmhi.usf.edu/rtcconference/handouts/default.cfm?appid=171204.