Association of illicit drug use in adolescence with socioeconomic and criminal justice outcomes in adulthood: prospective findings from a UK national birth cohort
Year: 2020
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Illicit drug use in adolescence has been linked to drug use and poor mental health in adult life, but few studies have examined the relation between adult economic and criminal justice outcomes. METHODS: We analysed data from 14 082 participants (6999 women) in the 1970 British Birth Cohort Study. Illicit drug use over study members' lifetime and in the past year were self-reported at 16 years of age. Thirteen outcomes were self-reported at 30 years of age, including illicit drug use, smoking, problems with alcohol, mental and physical health, experience of socioeconomic disadvantage and experiences with the criminal justice system. RESULTS: At 16 years of age, 20.3% of the participants had ever tried an illicit drug and 7.2% had used in the past year. After adjustment for childhood socioeconomic status and mental health problems, and following correction for multiple testing, there was a dose-response association between illicit drug use at 16 years with illicit drug use in adult life in the past year (OR; 95% CI - 1.83, 1.51 to 3.12), experiencing homelessness (1.74, 1.16 to 2.62), being arrested (1.57, 1.29 to 1.92) and cautioned (1.97, 1.50 to 2.57) by the police, and being found guilty at court (1.73, 1.34 to 2.23). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent drug use was associated with an array of social and criminal outcomes in later life.
Authors: James White, Steven Bell, G David Batty
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom Clinical Research Collaboration, Llywodraeth Cymru, Cancer Research UK, National Institute for Health and Care Research, British Heart Foundation, University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Hospitals, Medical Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, National Institute on Aging
Awards: G1671907826, Biomedical follow-up of 1958 Birth Cohort Study members at age 60, G2395963644, Large-scale integrative genomic studies of high-dimensional traits in cardiovascular diseases (renewal), G3044061459, G3494591977, G3600350110, G3987157617, G4194769985, G4211044638, G4342719566, G4584873075, G5089399674, G5239001972, Healthy transitions from mid-life to early older age: biomedical follow-up of 1958 Birth Cohort Study members at age 60, G587296758, G6011272932, G6690339795, G7107371955, G7283437851, Large-scale integrative studies of risk factors in coronary heart disease: from discovery to application (renewal). (Joint funding with MRC), G7939076303, G8597704463, Large-scale integrative studies of risk factors in coronary heart disease: from discovery to application
OpenAlex ID: W3022878058