The  effect of medical treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on foster care caseloads: Evidence from Danish Registry Data

Peter Fallesen; Christopher Wildeman

doi:10.1177/0022146515595046

The effect of medical treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on foster care caseloads: Evidence from Danish Registry Data

Peter Fallesen, Christopher Wildeman

Department of Sociology

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Since the early 2000s, foster care caseloads have decreased in many wealthy democracies, yet the causes
of these declines remain, for the most part, a mystery. This article uses administrative data on all Danish
municipalities (N = 277) and a 10% randomly drawn sample of all Danish children (N = 157,938) in the period
from 1998 to 2010 to show that increasing medical treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) accounts for a substantial share of the decrease in foster care caseloads. According to our estimates,
the decline in foster care caseloads during this period would have been 45% smaller absent increases in medical
treatment of ADHD. These findings are especially provocative in light of recent research showing ambiguous
effects of medical treatment of ADHD. Future research should be attentive to how medical treatment aimed
at addressing children’s acute behavioral problems could also have a powerful effect on foster care caseloads.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Health and Social Behavior
Volume	56
Issue number	3
Pages (from-to)	398-414
ISSN	0022-1465
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146515595046
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2015

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abstract = "Since the early 2000s, foster care caseloads have decreased in many wealthy democracies, yet the causesof these declines remain, for the most part, a mystery. This article uses administrative data on all Danishmunicipalities (N = 277) and a 10% randomly drawn sample of all Danish children (N = 157,938) in the periodfrom 1998 to 2010 to show that increasing medical treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) accounts for a substantial share of the decrease in foster care caseloads. According to our estimates,the decline in foster care caseloads during this period would have been 45% smaller absent increases in medicaltreatment of ADHD. These findings are especially provocative in light of recent research showing ambiguouseffects of medical treatment of ADHD. Future research should be attentive to how medical treatment aimedat addressing children{\textquoteright}s acute behavioral problems could also have a powerful effect on foster care caseloads.",

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AB - Since the early 2000s, foster care caseloads have decreased in many wealthy democracies, yet the causesof these declines remain, for the most part, a mystery. This article uses administrative data on all Danishmunicipalities (N = 277) and a 10% randomly drawn sample of all Danish children (N = 157,938) in the periodfrom 1998 to 2010 to show that increasing medical treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) accounts for a substantial share of the decrease in foster care caseloads. According to our estimates,the decline in foster care caseloads during this period would have been 45% smaller absent increases in medicaltreatment of ADHD. These findings are especially provocative in light of recent research showing ambiguouseffects of medical treatment of ADHD. Future research should be attentive to how medical treatment aimedat addressing children’s acute behavioral problems could also have a powerful effect on foster care caseloads.

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The effect of medical treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on foster care caseloads: Evidence from Danish Registry Data

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