Substance Use and Mental Health in Homeschooled Adolescents in the United States

Abstract

Purpose: U.S. homeschooling increased by 50% over 2007-2016. Homeschooled adolescents may have lower substance use rates, but previous research treated other adolescents as homogeneous despite within-group differences. We used the 2015-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to compare adolescent substance use and psychopathology by homeschooled/educational status.

Methods: Data were from 52,089 adolescents, classified by educational status (i.e., homeschooled; public/private school, low dropout risk; public/private school, at risk for dropout; and not in school) and compared on substance use and psychopathology variables.

Results: Substance use rates were lowest in adolescents at low dropout risk, with significantly lower past-year prescription opioid misuse, tobacco use, nonmarijuana illicit drug use, and nicotine dependence rates than homeschooled adolescents. Psychopathology treatment prevalence was lowest in homeschooled adolescents. Those at risk for dropout had the highest rates of substance use.

Conclusions: Although homeschooled adolescents have relatively low substance use rates, they exceed those of low dropout risk adolescents.

Keywords: Adolescent; Education; Homeschool; Prescription misuse; Substance use.