A new study has revealed that a quarter of children in the U.S. have at least one parent with a substance use disorder.
Researchers found that most parents with a substance use disorder abuse alcohol. Other substances most commonly named in the study included cannabis, cocaine, and prescription drugs.
The study in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, published earlier this week, found that one in four children lived in such circumstances.
Conclusions were drawn from data from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which is conducted annually by the federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
This data is then analyzed alongside the DSM-5 — the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, now in its fifth edition — used by mental health professionals as a guide for assessing and treating patients.
The results found that 19 million children in the U.S. were living with a parent with a substance use disorder.
Previous studies, including the most recent conducted in 2022, concluded that 7 million children lived in such circumstances, but the substantial increase is partially due to new criteria. Earlier studies used the now-outdated DSM-IV, NPR reports.
The latest data also estimated how many children have a parent with moderate to severe substance abuse issues versus those who have a mild disorder.
“We also found that 7.6 million children live in a household with a parent that has either a moderate or severe substance use disorder,” said study author Sean Esteban McCabe, director of the Center for the Study of Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking and Health at the University of Michigan.
Some 3.4 million children live with a parent with multiple substance use disorders, and 6 million have a parent with both a mental health condition and a substance use disorder.
The study also found that the majority of the parents with a substance issue — 12 million — had alcohol use disorder, which, while more socially acceptable, points to a need to pay greater attention to the impact it has on children. Alcohol is the leading cause of substance-related deaths in the U.S., killing more people than opioids every year, though at a slower rate, as a chronic disease of the liver and a cause of cancer.
Researchers believe the study is important because children whose parents have a substance use disorder are more likely to be at-risk for using substances earlier, and developing substance abuse and mental health disorders of their own.
“We know that over three-fourths of people with substance use disorders do not get treatment,” McCabe noted.
“And kids who are in households with parents who don’t get help are much less likely to get help themselves. So I just think it’s important for us who serve and provide care to children to understand what these numbers mean and also how we can design programs to meet these kids where they’re at.”
The future of SAMHSA is uncertain under a proposed restructuring by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, which would see it absorbed into a new entity, the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).
This new office would consolidate five existing agencies, including those responsible for chemical exposures and work-related injuries.
SAMHSA currently commands an $8 billion budget, employs over 700 staff, and was created by Congress in 1992.
It is responsible for services including the 988 crisis line, naloxone distribution, and addiction treatment.
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