Drug and alcohol addiction does not only affect the person suffering from it. The effect of substance abuse ripples out to affect friends, family and co-workers. Some of the people who suffer the most are children of addicted parents.

According to the NSPCC, the leading children’s charity, last year, more than 70,000 children in England had a parent struggling with alcohol. In a report from the government in 2021, it was found that 478,000 children were living with a parent with problematic alcohol or drug use.

Parental substance abuse effects can be severe and lifelong if not addressed. To effectively support families and especially children, you should know what the impacts of parental abuse are, what to be on the lookout for and what support is available.

Signs of Parental Substance Abuse

If you suspect your parent or a parent you know is suffering from alcohol or drug addiction, it’s important to know what to look for.

Symptoms of addiction include:

  • Neglecting responsibilities at home and work
  • Sudden change in weight
  • They seem to care less about how they look
  • More tired
  • Bloodshot eyes
  • Mood swings
  • Becoming more dishonest and acting out of character

If you have concerns that a child may be dealing with parental substance abuse, there are normally indications they are struggling.

Signs of parental substance abuse include:

  • Poor attendance at school/poor performance
  • Poor hygiene/clothes not clean
  • More angry and destructive
  • Signs of depression and anxiety
  • Afraid of school-parent contact
  • Parent/parents are noticeably under the influence of some substance
  • Talk about caring for parents or siblings
  • Self-harming

Physical Impact of Parental Substance Abuse on Children

Family addiction impacts can be wide-reaching, following children into adulthood. More worryingly, there can be more immediate physical effects of parental substance abuse that put the child or children at real risk.

Poor Health

Children get sick. Normally, this can be dealt with easily enough by parents, but if one or both are suffering from substance abuse, things can get more complicated. Normal doctor appointments may be missed, or an illness or injury to a child may be left to get worse, turning into a more serious problem.

Physical and sexual abuse

Some parents who use substances can turn into different people. All forms of abuse are more prevalent in homes where addiction is present. Not only is this dangerous for children in the immediate, but these traumatising experiences can also have long-lasting effects.

Exposure to Substances

If children are exposed to substances in the home, accidents can happen. A child may accidentally ingest a drug – residue left on surfaces, take a pill thinking it’s a sweet, or drink alcohol – which can have serious health consequences.

How Parental Substance Abuse Affects Children’s Emotional Development

Substance abuse and family dynamics can be hard to decipher from the outside. What is clear is that this issue will inevitably have a huge emotional toll on the children caught in it. Rather than reach out and be more vocal about the problems, they are more likely to stay silent and be a bystander as chaos quickly becomes the norm.

The unpredictability of their parent’s addiction will make the home a worrying environment. There will be instability and this can cause feelings of insecurity as the child feels like they are always on alert and don’t know what’s coming around the corner.

Feelings of anxiety and depression are likely to come. Children feel powerless in this situation and will soon feel abandoned by their parents as they have to start looking after themselves more and more.

Children of addicted parents are also likely to suffer from low self-esteem and feel apart from people their age. This can lead them to feel guilt for their parent’s problems and be ashamed about what is happening.

Behavioural and Cognitive Impacts on Children

Parental substance abuse effects also include a child’s behaviour and their cognitive development.

Children in these situations are likely to develop poor impulse control and be poorer at spelling, reading and problem-solving than other children their age. This dip in academic performance can be due to being less interested in school and more worried about their home life, not getting help with schoolwork at home, or acting out more.

The stress they are going through results in poor behaviour. They may be more withdrawn outside of the home or angrier and have less control over their emotions.

It can be harder to help children in these situations as they can develop trust issues as the primary adult/s in their lives are becoming more and more unpredictable and unreliable.

A longer-term issue is the danger that children suffering from parental substance abuse will mimic addictive behaviours later in life that could lead them to need to go to alcohol and drug rehab.

The Risk of Intergenerational Addiction

Children in substance-abusing households are at a heightened risk of developing an addiction later in life.

There is a suggestion that genetics can play a part in addiction. Whilst this does not mean a negative outcome is inevitable, it could play a part if combined with other factors.

The environment can also be a cause of intergenerational addiction. If you grow up around addiction, you have easier access to substances. Children in these households are likely to grow up quicker in some ways and be stunted in others, leading to struggles in later life that may lead them to addiction.

Emotions also play a big part in intergenerational addiction. Growing up in these households can be traumatic, and substances may be used to deal with the trauma. Also, all the feelings of shame, anxiety, depression and everything else can increase the chance of someone using substances to cope.

If not dealt with, these issues will lead children to become the same as their parent/s. It might result in a long and hard journey that leads to drug and alcohol rehab.

Supporting Children and Families Affected by Substance Abuse

The situation may seem hopeless, but there is help out there for families living with addiction. The most important thing you can do to support the children affected is get help for the parent or parents.

Ocean Recovery offers support for families. We work closely with families during the whole treatment process and can facilitate an intervention if that is needed.

How we treat addiction at our rehab is effective and comprehensive. We aim to deal with both the physical and psychological aspects of addiction.  People staying with us will go through a detox programme to stop being physically dependent on the substance and then go through group and individual therapy sessions.

For the children and other family members, family therapy is an option. There are also many support groups out there where you can meet up and talk with people who are going through the same struggles.

The most important way to help children and families affected by substance abuse is to act quickly. To break the cycle of addiction that may repeat itself for generations, you need to be decisive and confront the addiction before it gets any worse.

Get Support with Parental Substance Abuse Now

Parental substance abuse is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with before it worsens. It can have serious consequences, putting children in danger and increasing the risk of intergenerational addiction.

Ocean Recovery is a private drug and alcohol rehab that can help parents get clean and start living a better life for themselves and their children. For more information, call now at 08008807596.

John Gillen - Director at Ocean Recovery

John Gillen - Author - Last updated: November 1, 2024

John is one UK’s leading professionals in the addiction recovery industry. Pioneering new treatment techniques such as NAD+ and ongoing research into new therapy techniques such as systematic laser therapy, John is committed to providing the very best treatment for people throughout the UK and Europe. During his extremely busy schedule, John likes to regularly update our blog section with the latest news and trends in the industry to keep visitors to our site as well informed as possible on everything related to addiction treatment.