Working with parents with problematic substance use and mental health issues

Abstract

Outcomes for children living in families with parental substance misuse and mental health issues can include poor school outcomes, early substance use, early involvement with the justice system and mental health problems. This chapter will discuss how families require acknowledgement and support for these and related problems such as ongoing stressors, including parenting difficulties, financial adversity and limited social connectedness. We know that outcomes for children raised in families with parental substance misuse or mental illness can be poor, with compromised outcomes from early infancy to adulthood well documented. These include impaired cognitive development and educational attainment, adolescent substance misuse and antisocial behavior, and mental health issues (Kuppens et al., 2020). In order to improve outcomes for children, families need to be provided with a therapeutic support plan that takes into a consideration the interplay between substance misuse and mental illness and other risk factors, such as intergenerational trauma, domestic violence, and socioeconomic disadvantage.