Parental Substance Abuse Impacts the Development of Children

Prescription Drug Overdose

    What happens to a child when their parent or guardian who is supposed to take care of them is consumed by drug addiction? 

Parental substance abuse impacts the development of children across the country by creating emotional instability, physical health problems, and unstable relationships. 

According to Hanley Foundation, “SAMHSA reports that approximately 1 in 8 children, totaling 8.7 million aged 17 or younger, reside in households where at least one parent grapples with a substance use disorder (SUD).” Parental substance abuse is a worldwide issue that affects children everywhere. 

The National Institutes of Health reports that addiction is caused by a number of factors; two of the major factors are environmental and genetic vulnerability. Genetic vulnerability is another factor that plays a big part in addiction. Addiction is not based on a specific gene that you inherit but can lead to a number of addictive habits. A family past of addiction can also raise the chances of addiction continuing throughout the family.  According to The National Library of Medicine, “Addictions are highly heritable disorders, with heritability estimates ranging from 39% to 72%” and “Exposure to drugs of abuse results in epigenetic changes that may be passed on through the germline.” 

Researchers warn that emotional instability is a major effect caused by parental addiction. Emotional instability in children results in feelings of guilt, shame, fear, insecurity, and difficulty in trusting others, including peers, teachers, and even other family members. 

In a story published by NBC News, A pediatric nurse named Cheryll Jones talks about how the fetal brain is affected by maternal methamphetamine abuse. “The brain gets hijacked by the drug,” she said, describing patterns of overstimulation and disrupted sleep cycles among infants, as well as hyperactivity and attention-deficit disorder among meth-exposed school children.”  

Some people believe emotional instability caused by the use of parental substance abuse isn’t real. The argument made is that “Kids are resilient”, while this could be true for some children, the impact of substances physically alters the development of the brain in both babies and school-aged children. 

Beyond the emotional effects, the physical outcomes can be worse. The Crossroads Antigua reports that physical health problems are another outcome of parental substance abuse. The effects consist of stunted growth and mental development, malnutrition, physical abuse, and exposure to substances. Physical health problems developed from substance abuse ranges for children from birth to the age of seven. 

Crossroads Antigua also notes how addiction can affect fetuses in the womb and in early childhood. In utero, babies can be born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, or with symptoms of withdrawal. In infancy, babies suffer from neglect that can lead to development delays and malnutrition. In early childhood, children of addicts often lack routine and structure that majorly influences development and may have problems with REM Cycle affecting growth and development. In middle childhood, physical neglect could lead to malnutrition, and poor growth leading to delayed puberty. 

According to Crossroads Antigua, another aspect of physical health problems is mental health. Three categories of mental health that are greatly affected by substance abuse are cognitive, developing mental disorders, or even developing an addiction to substances themselves. Cognitive difficulties involve problems with learning, paying attention, and memorizing information, leading to poor performance in school and growth.  

The risk of developing mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and PTSD are higher for children of addicted parents. The risk for children of addicted parents developing substance abuse themselves is high, as they find it a way of coping or as a learned behavior. 

Others may say that it's because of parents not teaching their children proper hygiene or aren’t trying to, though that may seem true, parents that are heavily addicted to substances aren’t in the right mindset to take care of themselves nor take care of children. Substance abuse alters the way people think and the way they function in their day-to-day lives. 

The Hanley Foundation states that the last major outcome of parental substance abuse is unstable relationship. Not only can they affect friendships, but also with extended family members, and significant others. When trying to form friendships, there are often difficulties with role reversals, social isolation, and trauma. 

The Hanley Foundation also notes that role reversals are where children take on an “older age” position, where they are forced to take on responsibilities that the average child wouldn’t. Older children of addicted parents often take on the roles of taking their younger siblings, making it harder to relate to peers and harder to make friends. 

According to the Hanley Foundation, Social isolation is another difficulty of unstable relationships. Social isolation is “The stigma surrounding addiction may lead to social isolation for the child, as they may be reluctant to disclose their family situation to friends.”  

Children of addicted parents often experience, not by choice, but because of the learned behavior of their own parents. They find that being alone is the safest option, due to not being able to form connections with others because they weren’t taught how. 

The Hanley Foundation states the last difficulty of unstable relationships is trauma. “Living with addiction can be traumatic for children, leaving lasting emotional and psychological effects that persist into adulthood.” Children of parental addiction often find it hard trusting others in every way; it is not a forced thing, but through years of trauma it's hard to let your guard down and trust new people. 

Parental substance abuse affects far more than the person struggling, but it can shape a child’s entire future. For children, growing up in an environment heavily affected by addiction can create emotional instability, physical health problems, and deep trust issues that follow a child into adulthood. For many children, the effects are long lasting, they can influence mental health, relationships, and future behaviors to come.  

While some children can cope, it doesn’t erase trauma or developmental problems caused by parental addiction in the home. That is why recognizing that impact of parental substance abuse matters, by understanding its consequences, so, society can better understand it, support children and promotes healing, and to help break the cycle to prevent it from continuing to future generations.