Youth at entry to residential treatment: Understanding psychotropic medication use

Youth entering residential treatment often present with complex mental health and behavioral needs. As a result, it is not surprising that many of these youth have active prescriptions for psychotropic medications. What is surprising, however, is that very little is known about how psychotropic medications are used for youth who enter residential treatment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of psychotropic medication use for youth at their time of entry to residential treatment through the examination of archival data. Data suggested that the youth in this sample had high levels of emotional and behavioral difficulties and that many had active psychotropic prescriptions. Patterns of use differed slightly from those identified with previous samples, but several clinical and non-clinical factors were identified that were predictive of psychotropic medication use. Findings and implications are discussed in detail.

► 407 youth had psychotropic prescriptions at entry to residential treatment.
► 200 youth had prescriptions for two or more different psychotropic medications.
► Both clinical and non-clinical factors correlated with psychotropic medication use.
► Despite high psychotropic use, youth had clinical levels of behavior problems.