Peer-reviewed article
What about the children? How opioid use affects child well‐being
Lindsey Rose Bullinger, Benjamin C. Ward ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5The study looks at how opioid use relates to child well-being in the United States. It links data on legal opioid prescriptions, opioid-related emergency department visits and opioid-involved deaths with foster care entries and child maltreatment reports. Higher opioid-related deaths and emergency visits are associated with more children entering foster care, especially young children. Legal opioid distribution quantities show no significant link to home removals. Opioid-related public policies show mixed relationships with removal from the home.
Key points
- Increases in opioid-related mortality are associated with increased foster care entry.
- Increases in opioid-related emergency department visits are associated with increased foster care entry.
- The association with foster care entry is strongest among young children.
- No significant relationship was found between legal opioid distribution quantities and home removals.
- Relationships between opioid-related policies and removal from the home were mixed.
Limitations
The abstract reports associations only and does not say whether opioid use causes the changes in foster care entry. It gives no numbers, geographic detail, time period or information on how the data were analysed.
Abstract
Abstract We study the relationship between opioid use and child well‐being. We combine data on legal opioid prescriptions, opioid‐related emergency department visits, and opioid‐involved mortality with foster care entrance records and child maltreatment reports. We find that increases in opioid‐related mortality and emergency department visits are associated with increased foster care entry, particularly among young children. We find no significant relationship between legal opioid distribution quantities and home removals. Finally, we examine the relationship between opioid‐related public policies and child welfare outcomes, finding mixed relationships between various policies and removal from the home.