Pregnant Teens & Substance Abuse Treatment
A recent report from SAMHSA’s Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) examines female admis¬sions age 13 to 19 that were pregnant at the time of admis¬sion to substance abuse treatment in 1992 and 2007.
Pregnant Teen Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment: 1992 and 2007 includes the following findings:
The primary substances of abuse reported by pregnant teen admissions have changed over time. In 1992, alcohol was the most frequently reported primary substance of abuse among pregnant teen admis¬sions; by 2007, it was marijuana. In fact, between 1992 and 2007, the proportion of pregnant teen admissions reporting primary alcohol abuse decreased by more than half (from 44.1 to 20.3 percent), and primary cocaine abuse decreased by two thirds (from 20.2 to 6.8 percent).
However, primary marijuana abuse among pregnant teen admissions more than doubled, from 19.3 percent in 1992 to 45.9 percent in 2007, while primary methamphetamine abuse more than quadrupled, from 4.3 to 18.8 percent.
In both 1992 and 2007, almost one in six pregnant teen ad¬missions had at least two prior treatment admissions (15.6 and 15.7 percent, respectively).
Although the majority of pregnant teen admissions had never been in treatment before, slightly more than one-third in both 1992 (36.0 percent) and 2007 (38.6 percent) had at least one prior treatment admission.
The majority of pregnant teen admissions in both 1992 (54.5 percent) and 2007 (50.3 percent) were non-Hispanic white.
Between 1992 and 2007, the proportion of pregnant teen ad¬missions that were Hispanic increased (15.7 versus 21.4 percent), while the proportion that were non-Hispanic black decreased (24.0 versus 14.7 percent).
For more information, download Pregnant Teen Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment: 1992 and 2007.