Growing-Up With a Substance-Dependent Parent: Development of Subjective Risk and Protective Factors

Abstract

A qualitative phenomenological study of high-risk adolescents, who are children of substance-dependent parents, explored the presence of subjective risk and protective factors. Nineteen adolescents were interviewed, all of whom had a father or both parents either actively dependent on psychoactive substances or recovering from substance dependence. The participants were assigned to one of two groups, based on the degree to which they maintained normative lives or had misused substances themselves. It was found that certain perceptions of the participants, concerning themselves and their parents, served as either subjective risk or protective factors, respectively. Implications for the treatment of this population are outlined.

Supporting families living with parental substance misuse: the M‐PACT (Moving Parents and Children Together) programme

“…Examples include greater support and consistency from adults (seen through the support provided by the facilitators as well as changes within families and between parents and children), feeling more confident, understanding and being able to express emotions and feelings, learning how to cope and stay safe at home, getting on better at school and making friends. These findings support those of other studies of resilience with this population group (Moe et al 2007;Ronel & Levy-Cahana 2011).…”

“…Children and families can be further affected when other problems, such as mental-health problems or domestic abuse, are present (Evans 2006;Velleman et al 2008;Cleaver et al 2011), and the incidence of such cases within Children's Services has been highlighted (Forrester & Harwin 2006;Cleaver et al 2007). However, it has also been recognized that there can be wide variation in how children are affected, and a number of factors and processes thought to promote resilience in this population have been identified (Moe et al 2007;Velleman & Templeton 2007;Ronel & Levy-Cahana 2011).…”

Impact of parents' substance misuse on children: an update

“…Nevertheless, there have not been many studies undertaken into protective factors and their relationship with resilience specifically with children living with parental alcohol/substance misuse. Three important and more recent qualitative studies in this area are from the USA (Moe 2007), Israel (Ronel 2011) and Scotland (Backett-Milburn 2008). All three studies talked directly to children and young people, who offered their perspective on what might be important protective factors which can create resilience.…”

Genetics of Opioid Dependence: A Review of the Genetic Contribution to Opioid Dependence

“…A few longitudinal and cross-sectional studies have been conducted in this field, however large studies are not very prominent. Findings show that specific risk factors for adolescents include early antisocial behaviour, depression, anxiety, academic failure, socioeconomic status, delinquency, physical/sexual abuse [41, 42], hyperactivity [40] and family history of substance dependence [42]. In addition, levels of religious involvement, earlier age at first use, psychiatric history, or poor academic performance are likely to increase the frequency of substance use [39].…”