How Does Parental Drug Abuse Affect Children & Teens?
The Phoenix House Center on Addiction and the Family (COAF), a nonprofit foundation whose aim is to reduce the effect of addiction on children, reports that children feel the effect of drug abuse during parental addiction and for years afterward. Families that live with a parent’s addiction are prone to chaos and unpredictability. Children and teens never know what to expect from the parent, whose moods can swing from wild and excited to withdrawn and depressed. Communication is inconsistent, and children are never sure what kinds of behavior will be rewarded or punished. There usually is very little structure in a home where drug abuse is present and children and teens often must fend for themselves, making meals, going to school and taking care of younger siblings.
