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Introduction
According to the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids (2013), today’s generation of parents are
the most experienced drug users of any parents yet, and are less concerned with the risk of drugs
and teen drug use than parents from the early 2000s. This is problematic due to the significance
of the parent-child relationship. Researchers have proven that adolescents who are exposed to
parental substance use have an increased risk of physical problems, emotional and psychiatric
disorders, and social problems. The developmental risks of having a substance-using parent will
be examined, as well as, the importance of this developmental stage through the lens of major
Adolescence
The first president of the American Psychological Association, G. Stanley Hall, published
a book on adolescence, in which he “proposed that adolescence is a period of ‘storm and stress,’
a period when hormones cause many psychological and social difficulties” (Hutchison, 2017,
p.439). During this critical developmental period, adolescence experience profound biological,
“The family remains the primary source of attachment, nurturing, and socialization for
humans in our current society” (Lander, Howsare, & Byrne, 2013, p.194). Because the family
relationship and family dynamic are so fundamental, it is imperative to view the adolescent as an
standpoint, research has indicated that childhood events can impact people’s lives 40 or more
years later (Hutchison, 2017). Therefore, when evaluating parental substance use, it is necessary
PARENTAL SUBSTANCE USE ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
to view the problem as a family problem in which each member of the family system is affected,
and because of the “growing evidence of a strong genetic component in the etiology of substance
Parental substance abuse has consistently proven to have a negative impact on adolescent
well-being. Adolescents are more prone to risky and impulsive behaviors, and are particularly
vulnerable to the consequences of parental substance abuse (Fenster, 2011). The needs, feelings,
and behaviors of substance-abusing parents often dominate the lives of their children. Because of
this domination, children of substance abusing parents are “widely considered at high risk for a
range of biological, developmental, and behavioral problems, including for developing substance
among adolescents is identity versus role confusion. During this stage, adolescents explore their
independence while attempting to develop a sense of self. It is also during this time that the
family unit plays a smaller role in the adolescent’s identity and the peer group begins to exert
more influence over the adolescent’s forming identity. However, adolescents of substance
abusing parents may struggle to be successful during this stage due to the developmental delays
accumulated by poor parenting, such as difficulties forming relationships with peers, among
other internal and external behaviors that hinder the development of relationships.
According to Kohlberg’s levels and stages of moral development, adolescents are in the
conventional level stage and seek to follow social rules. Morality refers to the perceptions of
PARENTAL SUBSTANCE USE ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
what is right and what is wrong. There are two stages within the conventional level of moral
development, interpersonal experiences and the societal point of view. Adolescents in the third
stage of moral development, the interpersonal experiences stage, “seek conformity and
consistency in moral action with significant others” (Hutchison, 2017, p.95). Furthermore,
adolescents in the fourth stage of moral development, the societal point of view stage, are
“seeking conformity and consistency with what one perceives to be the opinions of the larger
community” (Hutchison, 2017, p.95). Due to the chaotic environment of households affected by
parental substance abuse, adolescents may experience conflict in the stage of conventional moral
substance abusing parents, clashes with the conformity of non-substance using societal
standards.
In reference to Piaget’s cognitive development theory, adolescents are in the formal operations
stage. It is during this stage that adolescents become able to solve both real and hypothetical
problems using abstract concepts and reasoning. The use of logic is also employed during the
formal operations stage, thus improving the adolescent’s decision-making process. Piaget holds
that the capacity for reasoning develops through stages of which are sequential and
substance use may struggle to acquire this level of reasoning within Piaget’s theorized age range
due to the relevance of social components on cognitive development and proven outcomes of
Parental substance abuse impacts children at every stage in development and is also a
primary risk factor associated with child abuse and neglect. However, neglect has been found to
be the most prominent form of child maltreatment among parental substance abuse (Suchman &
Luthar, 2000). Researchers have found that children of substance using parents have a higher risk
of enduring sexual abuse, 3 times more likely to be abused, and 4 times more likely to be
neglected than children of parents who do not use substances (Sandau-Beckler, Devall, & de la
Rosa, 2002). Additionally, abused and neglected children have higher risks of developing
substance-abuse disorders, as well as, dual diagnoses of substance abuse and mental health
The literature on parental substance abuse and adolescents suggests that three variables
are particularly important links to adolescent drug and alcohol use; “parental attachment,
bonding or emotional support, parental monitoring, and parental substance use” (Chapple, Hope,
& Whiteford, 2005, p.19). Good parenting requires sensitivity and consistency in responding to
the social, emotional, and physical needs of the dependent child (Morrison-Dore, 1998). Poor
parenting behaviors such as harsh discipline, irritability, lack of nurturance, and low involvement
have been found in households in which substances are used by parents (Schroeder, Kelley, &
Fals-Stewart, 2006).
Parental substance use has been associated with chaotic home environments. Substance-
abusing parents frequently have higher rates of depression, anxiety, poverty, and low self-esteem.
Subsequently, these parents continue using substances as a means of self-medication to cope with
these problems. Substance use contributes to instability in the home, decreases parental
parental monitoring is associated with “sexual risk-taking behavior, substance/drug use, drug
Suchman and Luther (2000) illustrated that the parenting of substance-abusing mothers,
deficits, including neglect, physical and emotional abuse, excessive control and punishment,
Bowlby’s attachment theory posits that attachments within the family lay the
framework for all future relationships. Studies in child development stress the importance of
attachment and suggest that attachment is the most important issue in child development because
it is the foundation for emotional development and a predictor of later functioning (Hutchison,
2017). Attachment theory holds that healthy and secure attachments are formed in infancy when
a parent, or caregiver, is attentive to the child’s needs. However, if the caregiver is inconsistent in
their responses to the child, an insecure attachment may form, causing a variety of problems
“including anxiety, depression, and failure to thrive” (Lander, Howsare, & Byrne, 2013, p.195).
Researchers have indicated that mothers who abuse substances are typically less
responsive to their children and display less warmth, encouragement, and engagement during
interactions with their children (Solis, Shadur, Burns & Hussong, 2012). Additionally, maternal
drug abuse is associated with “authoritarian, over-involved parenting styles; more harsh,
commanding, and punitive discipline; and less parental monitoring” (Solis, Shadur, Burns &
Hussong, 2012, p. 143). Therefore, the risk of forming insecure attachments may be heightened
Because of the rapid brain development in infancy, stress from insecure attachments can
significantly impact cognitive and emotional development. “Without emotional bonding with an
adult, the orbitofrontal cortex in the brain of infants, which allows social relationships to
develop, cannot develop well” (Hutchison, 2017, p. 361). The results of insecure attachments and
adolescence, continuing to cause difficulties within the child’s attachments and relationships with
others. Additionally, the “quality of the parents’ attachment system that developed in infancy
will affect their ability to form healthy attachments to their own children and with other adults”
Bowen’s family systems theory proposes that the family unit is a social system in which
elements, or family members, form relationships and function interconnectedly. Each element
plays a different role in the overall, interconnected, family system. The role of each person
within the system is generally defined by the composition of the family system, as well as, the
characteristics of the person, such as age and gender. “Family members both affect and are
affected by other family members; when change occurs for one, all are affected” (Hutchison,
2017, p.199).
In family systems theory, pathology is viewed as “an attempt to adapt to their family
system so as to maintain homeostasis” (Lander, Howsare, & Byrne, 2013, p.196). Homeostasis
can be defined as the “tendency of a system to resist change and return to its original equilibrium
of power and/or energy distribution” (Lloyd, 2017). The goal of attaining homeostasis may
promote resiliency or increase risk, depending on the functioning of the family. Parental
substance abuse oftentimes causes role reversal in which the parent is unable to meet the
PARENTAL SUBSTANCE USE ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
developmental needs of the child and the parent’s needs are placed before the child’s. This may
cause the child to begin parenting themselves, younger siblings, or even the parent (Lander,
Howsare, & Byrne, 2013). This role reversal disrupts the family system’s homeostasis and is
detrimental to the child’s development as it sets the stage for potential and lifelong problems
including the “inability to set healthy boundaries in relationships and make the important triad
connections between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors” (Lander, Howsare, & Byrne, 2013)
and avoid pain” (Hutchison, 2017, p. 93). Bandura’s social learning theory posits that behavior is
learned through observing the behavior of others, and how these behaviors are reinforced, within
the social environment. Consequently, deviant behaviors are also learned through the social
environment. Adolescents exposed to their parents’ risk-taking behaviors may internalize and
model these negative behaviors, believing them to be normative (Francis, 2011). Adolescents in
substance-abusing households have an increased risk of also using substances, thus behaving in
ways that are consistent with the norms and values of the family environment.
Children of substance abusing parents have been proven to have an increased likelihood
of developing both internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. Many research studies
have reported numerous tragic consequences that adolescent children endure due to parental
substance use. These children have been found to engage in early sexual activity, drug use,
disorderly conduct, and other negative health and risky behaviors (Francis, 2011). Adolescents
living with parents who abuse illegal substances also produced higher rates of “depression and
PARENTAL SUBSTANCE USE ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
anxiety, negative self-concept, illness and injury, externalizing behaviors, problems at school,
and alcohol and drug experimentation or abuse” than those who had non-substance using parents
(Schroeder, Kelley, & Fals-Stewart, 2006, p.10). In addition, adolescent children of substance
abusing parents have been found to have higher rates of conduct disorder, smoking, drug use,
diagnosed behavioral disorders, oppositional disorder and have a lower overall functioning level
(Francis, 2011). Adolescence in substance abusing homes reportedly have sleep disturbances,
poorer developmental outcomes, poor impulse control, aggression, and lack attachment to school
The negative results that stem from adolescents being exposed to parental drug use have
been proven to cause physical problems such as asthma, allergies, abdominal pain, headaches,
and gastrointestinal disorders (Gance-Cleveland, Mays, & Steffen, 2008). Eating disorders,
phobias, rebellion, running away, and suicidal behavior were also found among studies within
factors. Risk factors are typically categorized by individual, family, and environmental
conditions. Risk factors “represent the possibility of a heightened vulnerability and appear to be
more potent when one is exposed over time” (Sandau-Beckler, Devall, & de la Rosa, 2002,
p.308). Risk factors may cluster together and increase vulnerability. However, research has found
that the single most potent risk factor in adolescence is the parent’s substance-abusing behavior
(Francis, 2011). Researchers have found that parental substance abuse is a risk factor for a vast
PARENTAL SUBSTANCE USE ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
amount of problems including behavior problems, depression and anxiety, problems in school
study among substance-using families to identify factors that can deepen strength and resilience
among children. These protective factors included: “autonomy and independence, a strong social
orientation and social skills, the ability to gain positive attention from others, the ability to
maintain a positive vision of life, and the development of a close bond” (The National
Association for Children of Alcoholics, 2001, p.4) Other protective factors for children of
substance abusing parents include constructive activities outside the home, greater family
organization, strong relationships with a teacher or other authority figure, less conflict, and
Conclusion
There is a vast amount research and literature that has established the detrimental
environment philosophy maintains that a person’s social environment greatly influences personal
development. There are several social work perspectives that align with this ideology such as
social learning theory, family systems theory, and attachment theory. Parental substance use
produces physical, emotional and psychological, and social impairments during the stage of
adolescence. However, there are protective factors that can be established to alleviate some of the
References
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