Adolescent Self-Reported Recovery for Substance Use in Illinois: Statewide Representative Epidemiological Study

Although recovery is a central tenet of the US substance use disorder service delivery system, empirical research on youth recovery remains limited and underdeveloped. Notably, no population-based representative surveys, either in the United States or internationally, currently assess recovery status among secondary school-aged youth (aged 14-18 years). Consequently, little is known about how many youth identify as being in recovery or about their characteristics and needs.

This study presents the first statewide representative estimate of adolescent self-reported recovery (ASR), derived from a large Midwestern state in the United States.

We used data from the 2024 Illinois Youth Survey, a weighted, statewide representative survey of students from 8th, 10th, and 12th grades across Illinois. We examined the prevalence of ASR with a widely used single-item question, "Do you consider yourself to be in recovery?" The question was presented after an instruction directing students to consider only substance use when responding. We estimated the prevalence of ASR and conducted descriptive analyses to characterize this group.

Among the 6871 participating students from the 10th and 12th grades, the prevalence of ASR was 3.3% (95% CI 2.6%-4.1%). Among participants with ASR, 51.1% (118/231) were female, 39% (90/231) identified as Latino or Latina, 38.1% (88/231) identified as White, and 13% (30/231) identified as Black or African American. The average age of participants with ASR was 16.5 (SD 1.14) years. Participants with ASR were demographically diverse, and a little over half received free or reduced-price lunch.

Findings suggest that financial recovery capital may be particularly important for participants with ASR. This study provides the first population-based estimate of the prevalence of ASR and underscores the importance of including recovery status in large-scale surveys to inform and strengthen recovery support systems.