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Psychosocial and demographic predictors of pediatric psychotropic medication use
1Division of Pharmacy Administration, University of Texas at Austin 78712-1074, USA.
Insights
Parental psychotropic medication use significantly influences children's prescription psychoactive drug use. Gender and age interact, with boys more likely to receive stimulants and girls more likely to use antidepressants at older ages.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric pharmacology
- Child psychology
- Health services research
Background:
- Children's use of prescription psychoactive medications is a growing concern.
- Factors influencing this use, such as demographics and family environment, require investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the effects of age, gender, family background, and parental medication use on children's prescription psychoactive drug use.
- To analyze these effects across different classes of psychotropic medications.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a binary response model with logistic regression analysis.
- Analyzed patient and prescribing data for 3144 children from prescription drug benefit plans.
- Independent variables included family size, parenting type, parental drug use, child's age, gender, and age-gender interactions.
Main Results:
- 3.9% of children received psychotropic drugs; parental use was a significant predictor.
- An age-gender interaction was observed: boys more likely than girls at younger ages, girls more likely than boys at older ages.
- Specific drug classes showed varied influences: CNS stimulants more common in boys and younger children; antidepressants less common in single-parent families; maternal drug use influenced all classes, paternal only antidepressants.
Conclusions:
- Demographic and familial factors differentially impact children's use of various psychotropic drug classes.
- Parental psychotropic medication use is a key factor associated with children's prescription.
- The interplay of age and gender is crucial in understanding patterns of psychotropic medication use in children.
Abstract:
The effects of age, gender, and family background on children's use of prescription psychoactive medications were studied. Patient and prescribing information was obtained for children enrolled as dependents in any of five prescription drug benefit plans during the period from December 29, 1992, through December 28, 1993. A binary response model was specified under the assumption of logistic distribution of probabilities of psychotropic drug use. The independent variables were family size, parenting type (single- or two-parent family), parental use of psychotropic medications, and child's age, gender, and the interaction between age and gender. Logistic regression analysis was conducted not only for overall psychotropic drug use but also for antidepressants, antianxiety drugs, and CNS stimulants. The sample included 3144 children; 3.9% received psychotropic drugs. Family size and parenting type had no effect on overall use of psychotropic drugs by children, but children were more likely to receive psychotropic drugs if the parents took them. The study showed an interaction between age and gender. At younger ages, boys were more likely than girls to receive psychotropic drugs; the opposite was true at older ages. For particular subcategories of drugs the study showed that (1) boys were more likely than girls, and young children were more likely than older children, to receive CNS stimulants, (2) children from single-parent families were less likely to use antidepressants than children from two-parent households, and (3) the influence of mothers' psychotropic drug use extended to all three drug classes, but the influence of fathers' psychotropic drug use existed for antidepressants only. The effects of demographic and familial factors on children's use of psychotropic drugs varied according to the drug class.