Introduction
Parents who abuse drugs are more prone to neglectful parenting practices, such as showing their children a lack of attentiveness and concern. Alcohol, marijuana, sedatives, and tobacco are the most frequently abused substances by parents. Parents who do not use substances will likely set academic expectations for their children or encourage them to try harder.
Children of substance-abusing parents, such as my cousin, Jim, may have high scores on social skills, but they have a poor perception of their academic abilities and are less likely to be introduced to new jobs. Parents who abuse drugs often struggle to provide for their children’s basic educational needs, such as money for tuition and supplies, proper discipline at home, and adequate time to do homework. Academic achievement is correlated with parental involvement or contribution to their children’s schooling (Lowthian, 2022, p. 517). Children’s educational attainment and behavior benefit from their parents’ active participation and interest in their lives and learning. I was relieved by my cousin’s treatment, which helped him overcome adverse effects on his mental health, relationships, and academic performance occasioned by his parents’ substance abuse.
Influence on Parenting and the Life of Children
Physical or sexual abuse is common among children whose parents have substance addiction problems. As a result, these kids are 40% more inclined to perpetrate a violent crime and 50% more likely to be incarcerated as minors (Kuppens et al., 2020). Abused children have a high prevalence of externalizing disorders like rage, violence, poor decision-making, and destructive behavior.
Neglected children are at an increased risk for developing internalizing disorders such as anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, and poor peer relationships. Approximately 60% of incest criminals admit to taking drugs right before the crime (Kuppens et al., 2020). All forms of sexual abuse in school-age children, including incest, are strongly linked to substance addiction by parents.
A parent’s severe and prolonged drug use can have profound effects on the parent-child relationship, including a breakdown in attachment and unhealthy modeling for affect control. Child protective services may intervene, parents may be incarcerated or in long-term treatment, or a parent may voluntarily choose to separate from their child. If children live in an unsafe or high-risk situation at home, child protective services may intervene and place them with a relative, in foster care, or another type of residential or group home (Reiter, 2015). Extreme cases of parental substance abuse can result in death by overdose, car accidents, or other medical difficulties that cause children to be raised without a parent.
Children’s attachment and emotion regulation skills, as well as their capacity to perceive and respond effectively to stimuli, will suffer from prolonged separation. According to research, such deficiencies in the mental health crisis response system significantly enhance the likelihood of future trauma victimization (Maina et al., 2021, p. 735). Maltreated children of parents with a drug use disorder, such as Jim, have a significant likelihood of experiencing negative intellectual, physical, social, and psychological health outcomes.
In homes where there is parental substance abuse, many children become parentified. When a child’s primary caregivers cannot meet their unique developmental demands, the youngster may step into the role of a parent far sooner than is typical. ‘Reversal of dependence needs’ describes how the child takes on the role of parent to the parent (Reiter, 2015).
Such a reversal occurs when parents prioritize their needs over their children’s. This can prevent a youngster from learning to set appropriate limits in relationships and from developing an understanding of the crucial trinity of emotions, thoughts, and actions. It leads to a failure to recognize one’s needs and, at other times, an exaggerated awareness of those of others.
Attributable to their altered moods, preoccupation with getting high, or extensive time spent recovering from the harmful effects of substances, parents with drug abuse disorders may lose opportunities to build healthy bonds with their children. Thus, the complex connection system that develops between a newborn and an attachment figure through millions of explicit and implicit encounters is disrupted (Maina et al., 2021, p. 735). According to attachment theory, a parent’s capacity to build strong relationships with their children and other adults is influenced by the quality of their connection system, which forms during infancy.
Attachment is built on several complex pillars, including eye contact, voice tone, volume, rhythm, physical touch, and the capacity to anticipate an infant’s needs. The relational connection system serves as a form of psychological immunity, much like the body’s immune system, which helps ward off physical illness. A child’s susceptibility to stress, trauma, depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues increases without a robust attachment system.
A child or teenager may experience overt effects, such as a psychological problem that manifests when they have trouble forming trusting relationships with others, if one or both of their parents have a substance use problem. Children who experience this may act immaturely in relationships and assume adult responsibilities before they are ready (Ndegwa & Waiyaki, 2021). Birth deformities, fetal alcohol syndrome, and juvenile alcohol consequences are a few of the negative outcomes that can emerge from a mother’s substance abuse while carrying her unborn child. Problems arise when people ignore the warning signs of a potential problem and disregard the advice of friends and family.
Parental substance abuse is strongly associated with affect dysregulation, which may have contributed to or been exacerbated by the parent’s drug use. As a result, it will be challenging for children and teenagers to develop outstanding affect management skills. Consequently, children and teens may be vulnerable to developing mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and substance use (Reiter, 2015). It can also lead to behavioral problems that are visible to others, such as hostility and conduct issues, for example, theft, lying, truancy, anger outbursts, impulsivity, aggressiveness, and drug usage.
Some children whose parents have substance abuse problems struggle in school. Truancy issues in early childhood, around the age of five, can escalate into major absenteeism issues in adolescence and ultimately result in school dropout. When children are infants and toddlers, parents tend to read to them less and provide fewer learning opportunities. During school years, parents have less time to help with homework, monitor grades and assignments, and track general progress. Due to the stress and disorganization they experience at home, children of substance-abusing parents may have trouble paying attention and staying focused (Lowthian, 2022, p. 518).
There is a correlation between children’s exposure to domestic violence caused by parental substance use and their increased risk of developing learning and behavioral difficulties at school. When children’s basic needs are not satisfied, it is hard for them to concentrate on more complex topics. Poor communication between families where parents abuse substances and the school, in this case, mirrors the situation at home. Many parents with substance abuse problems avoid involvement when their children are in school, since they have a tough time.
Suggested Approaches
Social workers in direct practice in schools and community mental health centers are best placed for children to seek help. Social workers can help these clients by checking for changes in their children’s social and play patterns that can indicate the influence of parental substance abuse. Caretakers should consider how the child’s symptoms help stabilize the family system (Maina et al., 2021, p. 734). Social workers may find it helpful to provide therapy in various settings, including outpatient clinics, schools, and clients’ homes, focusing on families and their children. If a social professional believes it is necessary, they should signal a referral to child protective services.
Adolescent and adult clients of social workers can benefit from information about the consequences of maternal drug abuse on the developing fetus and encouragement to take preventative measures to avoid pregnancy. Referrals to a perinatal addiction clinic are advised if a counselor works with an expectant client with a substance use issue (Flykt et al., 2021). The social worker’s duties may include coordinating after-school care, tutoring programs, mentoring organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters, and providing direct assistance to the youngsters themselves.
Family treatment and education, both in and outside the home, can help provide structure, rewards, and punishments for school absences and bad performance, as well as communication with educational authorities. Social workers can lend a hand in several ways, including participating in Individualized Education Program gatherings, recommending special needs education services, and responding to requests for psychoeducational and neuropsychological assessments. In addition to helping instructors implement behavioral strategies in the classroom, referring the student to an adolescent or child psychiatrist for a medication review may be beneficial.
Direct practice in individual rehabilitation and family therapy should focus on multigenerational trauma and substance use. Social workers can aid by employing trauma-informed, attachment-informed, and systems-based approaches. Advocates for children adjudicated, mistreated, or neglected may include social workers who operate as part of interdisciplinary teams. Permanency preparation for children in institutional care sometimes has input from social workers, and therapists may be called upon to present expert testimony in court (Reiter, 2015). Social workers may play a crucial role in specialty tribunals such as family, mental wellness, adult substance use, and minor drug courts by bringing a person-in-environment and multi-systems perspective.
Conclusion
Parents addicted to drugs are more likely to behave neglectfully, such as by paying little attention or showing minimal concern for their children. Children of substance-abusing parents, like Jim, are at increased risk for adverse outcomes in mental health, interpersonal relationships, and academic performance. Damage to the parent-child bond, such as deterioration in attachment and unhealthy role modeling for affect regulation, can result from a parent’s heavy and prolonged drug use.
Reversal of dependence needs refers to a condition in which the child assumes parental responsibilities for the parent. The quality of an adult’s attachment system, which develops during infancy, affects their ability to form secure bonds with children and other adults. Early truancy problems, beginning around age five, have been linked to more severe non-attendance problems in adolescence and, in worst cases, school dropout. Clients of social workers, both young and old, can profit from learning about the dangers of drug use by mothers and being encouraged to take preventative measures to avoid becoming pregnant.
References
Flykt, M. S., Lindblom, J., Belt, R., & Punamäki, R. L. (2021). The role of mother’s prenatal substance use disorder and early parenting on child social cognition at school age. Infant and Child Development, 30(3), e2221. Web.
Kuppens, S., Moore, S. C., Gross, V., Lowthian, E., & Siddaway, A. P. (2020). The enduring effects of parental alcohol, tobacco, and drug use on child well-being: A multilevel meta-analysis. Development and Psychopathology, 32(2), 765-778. Web.
Lowthian, E. (2022). The secondary harms of parental substance use on children’s educational outcomes: A review. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 15(3), 511-522. Web.
Maina, G., Ogenchuk, M., & Gaudet, S. (2021). Living with parents with problematic substance use: Impacts and turning points. Public Health Nursing, 38(5), 730-737. Web.
Ndegwa, S., & Waiyaki, W. (2021). Effects of parental abandonment and strife on youth drug use. African Journal of Alcohol & Drug Abuse, 3, 30-41. Web.
Reiter, M. D. (2015). Substance abuse and the family. Routledge.