Role Of Parents And Family In Children’s Drug Use

8 Pages 1916 Words

Over the past two decades, studies have shown that the influence of parents and family is a significant factor in children’s drug use. A large body of research findings shows that the family contributes both risk and protective factors to the lives of adolescents. It affects both vulnerability and resilience to drug abuse (NIDA Notes, May/June 1996). A series of studies confirm the role of parents and families in adolescents’ life choices, in which the objective was to identify risk and protective factors at the family, school, and individual levels as they relate to four domains of adolescent health and morbidity: emotional health, violence, substance use and sexuality (Resnick, 1997). Resnick studied over 12,000 adolescents, grades 7 through 12, and interviewed them one by one at home on varies problems mentioned above including substance use. The key finding is that being connected with their parents and families, sometimes with helps from school and peers, those teens are more successful in dealing with the existing or the potential substance abuse problems. He concludes that across all domains of risk, the role of parents and family in substance control is critical. Although the physical presence of a parent in the home at crucial time helps to reduce the risk of substance use, the more significant influencing factor is the parental connectedness. Other factors might include home settings and the frequent exposure to healthy environment. Homes that provide easy access to alcohol, tobacco, and other illegal substances increase the adolescents’ chances of being engaged in the activities which involved unhealthy substance using. This literature review explore several areas influencing adolescents’ substance use such as usage by parents, communication patterns of family patterns of family members, relationships to family member (attachment and connectedness), and the influences of family structure and the extended family.

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