PARENTAL SUBSTANCE USE ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT

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

social work models and theories.

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,

social, spiritual, and psychological changes.

“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

integral component within the family system. Corroborating this person-in-environment

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

abuse” (Hutchison, 2017, p. 219).

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

abuse problems of their own” (Connors, et al., 2003, p. 744)

Identity vs. Role Confusion

According to Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, the prominent conflict

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.

Conventional Stage of Morality

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

development as the interpersonal experiences and conformity with significant others, or

substance abusing parents, clashes with the conformity of non-substance using societal

standards.

Piaget’s Formal Operations Stage

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

interdependent (Hutchison, 2017). However, adolescents from households with parental

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

lower cognitive functioning among adolescent children of parental substance use.

Parental Substance Abuse and Parenting

PARENTAL SUBSTANCE USE ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT

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

disorders, therefore continuing a cycle that can last generations.

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

monitoring and supervision, and consequently increases adolescent delinquency. Decreased

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parental monitoring is associated with “sexual risk-taking behavior, substance/drug use, drug

trafficking, school truancy, and violent behaviors” (Francis, 2011, p.7).

Suchman and Luther (2000) illustrated that the parenting of substance-abusing mothers,

in contrast with non-substance-abusing mothers, has been characterized by a “wide range of

deficits, including neglect, physical and emotional abuse, excessive control and punishment,

inconsistent discipline and lack of emotional involvement” (p.1417).

Attachment Theory and Parental Substance Use

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

in children that have substance using parents.

PARENTAL SUBSTANCE USE ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT

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

subsequent impact on the brain development in infancy persists through childhood to

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”

(Lander, Howsare, & Byrne, 2013, p.195).

Family Systems Theory and Parental Substance Use

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)

Social Learning Theory and Parental Substance Use

“According to social learning theory, we are motivated by nature to experience pleasure

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.

Consequences of Parental Substance Use

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
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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

or family, thus contributing to isolation, depression, and suicidal behavior (Sandau-Beckler,

Devall, & de la Rosa, 2002)

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

this population (Gance-Cleveland, Mays, & Steffen, 2008).

Risk and Resiliency

Typically, children of substance-abusing parents are exposed to a combination of risk

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

performance and in peer relationships among adolescent children (Hutchison, 2017).

The National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA) conducted a longitudinal

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

maternal support (Schroeder, Kelley, & Fals-Stewart, 2006).

Conclusion

There is a vast amount research and literature that has established the detrimental

consequences of adolescents from substance-using households. The social work person-in-

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

negative consequences that stem from having a substance using parent.

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