A family affair: contextual accounts from addicted youth growing up in substance using families

Abstract

There are currently over 8 million children in the USA living in households where at least one parent is dependent on or abusing substances. Research has shown a link between parental substance use and children initiating substance use. This article uses qualitative data to give a contextual understanding of the experience of growing up in substance using homes. Results found that the habitus of homes was so immersed in substances that children's initiation into substance use was expected and became a ‘rite of passage’ into full acceptance as an adult member of the family. Furthermore, in many cases youth described a role reversal between child and parent roles or parentification in the family. The conclusion calls for early identification in treatment of youth who use substances with family members to target new norms and behaviors for the entire family posttreatment and to enhance successful recovery when returning to the family.

Keywords:

• adolescent substance abuse
• familial transmission
• habitus
• rites of passage
• parentification

Acknowledgements

I would like to recognize and thank all the young women and their families for participating in this study. Kristin Hedges worked as a Research Specialist for The University of Arizona's Southwest Institute for Research on Women while conducting interviews and writing this article. The participants and PI of this project were also involved in the Las Rosas project. Las Rosas is a program to expand, enhance, and strengthen the recovery-oriented systems of care through the provision of pre-treatment and residential treatment services, continuing care, and community recovery supports for adolescent girls in Southern Arizona. Data collection for this project was funded by The School of Anthropology's Edward H. Spicer Fund Research Scholarship. I thank Monica Davis, Alison Greene, and Elise Lopez for assistance in recruitment and enrollment in the project. I also recognize and sincerely thank Ivy Pike, Jamie Lewis Hedges, Mark Nichter, Bridget Ruiz, and Sally Stevens for their intellectual contributions to this work.