An alarming statistic from a new study in JAMA Pediatrics says that nearly 19 million children in the United States live with at least one parent struggling with addiction.
The staggering number, which used data from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, means around 25% (one in four) of American children live with at least one parent with a substance use disorder.
Of the roughly 19 million children, 7.6 million (around 40%) have a parent with a moderate or severe addiction, while 3.4 million live with a parent suffering from multiple substance abuse disorders. The remaining six million children identified have a parent dealing with both addiction and a mental health condition.
The study also found that the majority of parents with substance abuse were struggling with alcohol use disorder. In the United States, alcohol remains the leading cause of substance-related deaths, killing even more people annually than opioids.
“We know that over three-fourths of people with substance use disorders do not get treatment… And kids who are in households with parents who don’t get help are much less likely to get help themselves. So I just think it’s important for us who serve and provide care to children to understand what these numbers mean and also how we can design programs to meet these kids where they’re at,” said study author Sean Esteban McCabe, director of the Center for the Study of Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking and Health at the University of Michigan, per The Independent.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, alcohol consumption worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. People who drank large quantities reported a 20% increase in consumption during pandemic shutdowns, partly because of added stress and increased idle time.
The trend also resulted in more instances of alcohol-related domestic harm at home, according to Michael J. Scippa, director of public affairs with the industry watchdog Alcohol Justice.