Abstract
Experiencing parental substance use (PSU) has been associated with a heightened risk of developing substance use disorders (SUDs) in offspring. The primary goal of this study was to explore perspectives of adult children with lived experience of PSU who also developed SUDs themselves through first-hand experience. This study was conducted in Flanders (Belgium). A qualitative exploratory research design was applied. Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted with adult children of parents with SUDs (range: 29–48 years) who themselves had developed SUDs. All interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Three overarching themes emerged through thematic analysis: 1) loneliness and neglect in childhood; 2) stigma and the self; and 3) the role of social connection in substance use and recovery. The narratives highlighted the central role of feelings of loneliness, isolation and belonging among children of parents with SUDs in childhood and adulthood. Increasing public awareness on the impact of PSU on children and accessible support is needed to overcome stigma and remove barriers to social inclusion for children of parents with SUDs. Findings may prove valuable in informing policy, program and treatment development aimed at breaking maladaptive intergenerational cycles.
Highlights
Generational continuity in the use of substances has gained attention for several decades [1,2,3,4]
The analytic process resulted in the identification of three major themes: “loneliness and neglect in childhood,” “stigma and the self,” and “the role of social connection in substance use and recovery.”
Loneliness and Social Connection When respondents reflected on their childhood, the most frequently reported theme was the feeling of being completely alone as a child
Summary
Generational continuity in the use of substances has gained attention for several decades [1,2,3,4]. Growing evidence shows an association between early life stress and adversity and heightened risk for developing SUDs in adolescence [16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24], which is a critical window for initiation, experimentation, and establishment of more regular patterns of substance use [25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32]. Since PSU may impede parenting and the provision of a nurturing environment [58,59,60], the role of environmental and household stressors in the heightened risk of substance use continuation across generations has increasingly gained attention, with a particular focus on parental influences (e.g., parenting skills, parental inhibitory control, parental monitoring and discipline, parental modeling, harsh parenting) [42, 56, 61,62,63,64,65]
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