Health professionals appear to ascribe lower status to working with substance users than helping other patient groups, particularly in primary care; the effect is larger in some countries than others.

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Aims: To compare psychiatric morbidity between 176 female drug users with lifetime involvement in prostitution (prostitutes) and 89 female drug users with no involvement (non-prostitutes) in Glasgow, Scotland. Method: The Revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R) measured current neurotic symptoms. Results: Prostitutes were more likely to report adult physical (OR 1.8) or sexual abuse (OR 2.4), to have attempted suicide (OR 1.7) and to meet criteria for current depressive ideas (OR 1.8) than nonprostitutes. Seventy-two percent of prostitutes and sixty-seven percent of non-prostitutes met criteria for a level of current neurotic symptoms likely to need treatment (CIS-R z18). Being in foster care (OR 8.9), being prescribed medication for emotional problems in the last 30 days (OR 7.7), adult sexual abuse (OR 4.5), poly drug use in the last 30 days (OR 3.6) and adult physical abuse (OR 2.6) were significantly associated with a CIS-R score of z18 for prostitutes using multiple logistic regression. Conclusions: Higher rates of adulthood abuse among prostitutes may explain the greater proportion of prostitutes than non-prostitutes meeting criteria for current depressive ideas and lifetime suicide attempts.

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This article reviews the literature on the factors associated with mothers who use substances losing care of their children. A rapid evidence assessment was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses. Medline and PsycINFO databases were searched to identify primary research studies published in English during January 2000-September 2016. Studies were included if they presented individual, formal support (e.g., receiving substance use treatment) or informal support (e.g., receiving social and family support) factors associated with mothers who use substances retaining or losing care of their child/ren (losing care refers to child protection services placing child/ren under the custody of a family relative, foster care, child care institution, or adoption). Evaluation studies or trials of interventions were excluded as were studies that focused on reunification or re-entering care as the outcome. Thirteen studies were included. Factors associated with mothers who use substances losing care of their children included: maternal characteristics (low socioeconomic status, younger age of first child, criminal justice involvement); psychological factors (mental health co-morbidity, adverse childhood experiences); patterns of substance use (use of cocaine prenatally, injection drug use); formal and informal support (not receiving treatment for substance use, fewer prenatal care visits, lack of social support). There is not enough evidence to determine the influence of substance use treatment in preventing mothers losing care of their children. Factors identified in this review provide the evidence to inform a prevention agenda and afford services the opportunity to design interventions that meet the needs of those mothers who are more likely to lose care of their children.