Unveiling the Impact: How Parental Drug Use Affects Children’ s Wellness

Submission Deadline: 30 June 2025 View: 9 Submit to Special Issue

Guest Editors

Prof. Hui Ching Wu

Email: hchingwu@ntu.edu.tw

Affiliation: Department of Social Work, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Homepage: 

Research Interest: female substance use, family-based intervention, mental health, stigma, human rights and traum

Summary

Addressing DU in families is an important public health concern. Most individuals with illicit drug use have family and significant others who are affected by the user regardless of whether they have become estranged or remain close and even provide caring roles. The co-occurrence of parental drug use (DU) and problematic parenting is recognized as a major public health and social concern. DU affects both the physical and psychological well-being of family members resulting in a higher risk of exposure to antisocial and criminal behaviors from the drug use/misuser. In addition, other drug-misuse-related problems such as poor mental health, unemployment, deprivation, marital issues, domestic violence, child abuse and inadequate parental capacity would occur.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that 25 percent of American kids grow up in households where substance abuse is present. In homes where one or more adults abuse alcohol or drugs, children are approximately twice as likely to develop addictive disorders themselves, according to Current Drug Abuse Review. It also includes parents who aren’t able to supervise their children appropriately because of their substance use.

In Taiwan, there was roughly 16,537 (50.2%) adults misused heroin and 9,995 (30.3%) methamphetamine (Meth) misused who were mostly are at young adult of child-bearing age from 20-39. It might indicate many of their children with potential risks at home or with child/youth welfare needs. The numbers of DU parents of child abuse/neglect are found slightly growth.

Meth has become an uprising issue globally for its readily availability, inexpensive appetite suppressant and energy enhancer. According to the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act, the number of treatments of deferred persecution on the drug Schedule 2 has uprising fast than schedule 1 in the past 10 years, especially on the numbers of Meth users were the highest ranking of illicit drug users from the overall numbers of 78.5%. Considering the high numbers of Meth-using individuals at childbearing age, there is a great need for parenting interventions tailored to the special needs of Meth-use parents. Meth-use parents were identified as a particularly high-risk subgroup, particularly favoured by (young) parents, women of childbearing age and sexually disinhibited effect of the substance users. The use of Meth frequently evokes dysfunctional parenting behaviours (e.g. neglect, emotional unavailability/coldness, strictness / harshness vs. high permissiveness) Their families are found to have multiple and complex socio-economic problems (e.g. unemployment, financial debt, incarceration). Being a highly addictive psychoactive stimulant, Meth produces a powerful euphoria, followed by a “crash” that causes hopelessness, irritability, sleeplessness, anxiety, and aggression resulting from paranoia —all of which can create significant risk of child abuse and neglect, conduct problems, ADHD, emotional distress and traumatization.

Though a number of interventions were designed to provide support to families or children, there are only a small number of family intervention programs demonstrated the effectiveness of these programs. Few interventions focus on family strength and interaction between the parental drug use/misuse and the children. Little is known about the quality of parenting in these families.

This study provided an urgent need for more research with rigorous intervention approach and methodology to collect data serving for families affected by the Meth crisis and to ensure the protection of child well-being. The purposes of the study aim to:

1) Evaluate the effectiveness of an oriental family-based intervention model on the Meth-affected parents;

2) Improve positive outcomes of health and wellbeing of Meth-affected parent in terms of their harm reduction.

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