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A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies Exploring Lived Experiences, Perceived Impact, and Coping Strategies of Children and Young People Whose Parents Use Substances

Muir, Cassey; Adams, Emma A.; Evans, Vivienne; Geijer-Simpson, Emma; Kaner, Eileen; Phillips, Sophie M.; Salonen, Domna; Smart, Deborah; Winstone, Lizzy; McGovern, Ruth

A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies Exploring Lived Experiences, Perceived Impact, and Coping Strategies of Children and Young People Whose Parents Use Substances Thumbnail


Authors

Cassey Muir

Emma A. Adams

Vivienne Evans

Emma Geijer-Simpson

Eileen Kaner

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Sophie Phillips sophie.m.phillips@durham.ac.uk
PGR Student Doctor of Philosophy

Domna Salonen

Deborah Smart

Lizzy Winstone

Ruth McGovern



Abstract

Parental substance use is highly prevalent worldwide, presenting major child safeguarding and public health concerns. Qualitative research enables in-depth understanding of how young people experience parental substance use and helps inform practice and policy through illustrative cases of experiences. This review aimed to synthesize published qualitative evidence exploring the lived experiences, perceived impact, and coping strategies of children and young people whose parents use substances. International literature databases including Medline, PsycINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, Social Science Database, Sociology Collection, and Scopus were searched from inception to 2022, alongside grey literature searching and relevant websites. Qualitative accounts were included, provided by participants aged below 25 years. No language, date, or geographical limits were applied. A thematic synthesis of 35 studies, across 49 papers, covering over 700 children and young people’s voices, identified five overarching themes. These themes included, (a) living with the unpredictable: insecurity within the family; (b) social and emotional impact of parental substance use; (c) controlling the uncontrollable: creating safety within the family; (d) coping with and resisting the emotional and social impacts; and (e) formal and informal support. The findings emphasize that children and young people who experience parental substance use are trying to manage and mitigate vulnerabilities and be resilient to unpredictable, adverse, and often stigmatizing experiences, usually without formal support in place. Further research is needed to coproduce child-centered interventions that promote children and young people’s social and emotional resilience.

Citation

Muir, C., Adams, E. A., Evans, V., Geijer-Simpson, E., Kaner, E., Phillips, S. M., …McGovern, R. (2023). A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies Exploring Lived Experiences, Perceived Impact, and Coping Strategies of Children and Young People Whose Parents Use Substances. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 24(5), 3629-3646. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380221134297

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 1, 2022
Online Publication Date Nov 17, 2022
Publication Date 2023-12
Deposit Date Nov 17, 2022
Publicly Available Date Nov 17, 2022
Journal Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
Print ISSN 1524-8380
Electronic ISSN 1552-8324
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 24
Issue 5
Pages 3629-3646
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380221134297
Keywords children exposed to domestic violence, alcohol and drugs, anything related to child abuse, child abuse, family issues and mediators, domestic violence
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1188731

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).


Published Journal Article (396 Kb)
PDF

Licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).




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