Stoneleigh fellow David Rubin and PolicyLab have announced the release of their national and state-specific study of trends in psychotropic medication use among children in foster care from 2002 to 2007.
The safe and limited use of psychotropic medications has recently become a federal priority following research revealing high prescription rates for these medications, with exceptionally high rates among children in foster care. This study provides updated data illustrating trends in the use of psychotropic drugs both nationally and within 48 individual states and represents a critical first step in identifying areas for intervention in alignment with federal guidance.
Among the study’s principal findings was a consistent increase in the rate of prescribing antipsychotics–a class of powerful psychotropic medications–over the last decade. Meanwhile, the use of other psychotropic medications has shown decline.
To learn more about their findings, please visit http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740912001648 or:
