Blog Two: How Has the Opioid Epidemic Impacted Families

 How the Opioid Epidemic Has Impacted Families

👪How Children Are Impacted👪

• Children who grow up in households with misuse of opioids:
• Are at an increased risk of experiencing mental health issues (Winstanley & Stover, 2019).
• Are more likely to use drugs (Winstanley & Stover, 2019).
• Are more likely to experience accidental opioid poisoning (Winstanley & Stover, 2019).
• Are at an increased risk of developing a substance use disorder (Winstanley & Stover, 2019).
• Are likely to experience family dissolution resulting from parental incarceration (Winstanley & Stover, 2019).
• Loss of a parent due to opioid overdose and death (Winstanley & Stover, 2019).

👪How the Individual (Parent and Substance User) Is Impacted👪

• Parental drug use may result in the parent becoming unable to safely care for their child (Winstanley & Stover, 2019).
• Parental drug use may result in child detachment from parent (Winstanley & Stover, 2019).

References

Winstanley, E. L., & Stover, A. N. (2019). The impact of the opioid epidemic on children and adolescents. Clinical Therapeutics, 41(9), 1655–1662. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinthera.2019.06.003