Psychotropic medication treatment patterns among school-aged children in foster care

This study describes the level of psychotropic medication use and patterns of such treatment among school-aged children in foster care. Structured sur vey interviews were conducted in the foster homes of 302 randomly selected children, aged 6-12 years, who were living in foster care for 6 months or m ore and placed from three county service areas. Follow-up mental health ass essments using the existing system of care format were completed on 255 chi ldren. Sixteen percent of these school-aged children in foster care were fo und to have taken psychotropic medication during their lifetime. The most c ommon class of medication used in the past year was stimulants (62%). Child ren who were older, from Caucasian and biracial backgrounds, acid who lived in a group home more likely to have taken psychotropic medication in the p ast year. Among those children who received a clinician diagnosis of a seve re psychiatric disorder for which medication is an accepted component of ca re, boys were more likely to receive medication treatment than girls. Socio demographic characteristics and placement history variables may be influent ial in the level of psychotropic medication use among this population. Furt her research to examine the appropriateness and level of benefit of medicat ion treatment in this population is needed.