Completed secondary education among youth with prenatal substance exposure: A longitudinal register-based matched cohort study
: Nissinen Niina-Maria, Gissler Mika, Sarkola Taisto, Kahila Hanna, Autti-Rämö Ilona, Koponen Anne M
Publisher: ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
: 2021
: Journal of Adolescence
: JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENCE
: J ADOLESCENCE
: 86
: 15
: 27
: 13
: 0140-1971
: 1095-9254
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.11.006
: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140197120301706?via=ihub
: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/Publication/53001490
Introduction: The dual impact of prenatal substance exposure (i.e. alcohol/drugs) and adverse postnatal caregiving environment on offspring secondary education completion is an understudied research area. The aim was to investigate the influence of childhood adversities, out-of home care, and offspring's mental and/or behavioural disorders on secondary education completion among prenatally exposed offspring in comparison to matched unexposed offspring.
Methods: This is a longitudinal register-based matched cohort study in Finland including offspring with a history of prenatal substance exposure and a matched unexposed cohort. The study sample included 283 exposed and 820 unexposed offspring aged 18-23 years.
Results: The results showed a time lag in secondary education completion and lower educational attainment overall among exposed compared with unexposed (37.8% vs. 51.0%, respectively). The results from the multivariate logistic regression models showed that the differences in the secondary education completion between exposed and unexposed were diminished in the presence of covariates. A cumulative childhood adversity score and out-of-home care were not associated with secondary education completion in the multivariate models, whereas the different domains of offspring's mental and/or behavioural disorders including psychiatric disorders (AOR 0.65, 95% CI 0.45-0.96), neuropsychological disorders (AOR 0.35, 95% CI 0.23-0.54) and dual psychiatric and neuropsychological disorder (AOR 0.29, 95% CI 0.18-0.48) showed an independent negative effect on secondary education completion.
Conclusions: Inferior educational outcomes may not be directly linked with prenatal substance exposure but may rather reflect the extent of evolving offspring's mental and/or behavioural disorders over time influenced by childhood adversities.
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