Resilience in Children of Substance Users: In Their Own Words

Abstract

Understanding what children of alcoholics and other substance users experience has dominated the scientific literature and popular press for the past several decades. To date, the empirical studies have relied primarily on quantitative data to understand the individual and environmental factors associated with the lives, the developmental trajectories, and the growth of children of alcoholics and other substance users. Many of these studies focus on their risks, and very few of them focus on their strengths. Additionally, very few studies have used qualitative techniques to collect data. While quantitative studies have given us great insight, perhaps we could learn a great deal more if we employed data collection methods which would actually provide us with the child's perception of their strengths, or resilience, and what they think it takes to grow into happy, healthy adults. For this reason, this study presents data from the interviews of 50 children of substance users who present their views on resilience.