Psychotropic medication prescribing in male juvenile justice facilities

This study examined medical files for former residents of six juvenile residential facilities. A review of medical files for 223 male, justice-involved adolescents revealed that 139 (62.33 %) received one or more psychotropic medications during at least one of their stays. Of the residents who received at least one medication (n = 139), prescribers most often prescribed antidepressants (74.8 %), antipsychotics (50.4 %), and stimulants (43.32 %). The authors assessed the predicting and maintaining variables that impacted psychotropic medication use as a treatment for adolescents with mental health concerns. Receiving medication prior to intake increased the likelihood of a resident receiving psychotropic medication. Additionally, older adolescents had a decreased likelihood of receiving psychotropic medication. Surprisingly, only risk score significantly impacted the continuation of medication at discharge. Overall, residents received less medication at discharge when compared to medication count at intake. Furthermore, additional comparisons between the residents in this study and those of Anderson et al. (2022) revealed no prescribing differences for residents who did or did not receive additional psychotherapeutic services.