Children’s Experiences

In this episode, I talk about children’s experiences, that is, people’s experiences of being a child with an SUD/overdose incident and of being the child of a parent with an SUD/overdose incident. I first review some important statistics about drug misuse by both parents and children. I describe the challenges of being a child of a parent with SUD and of navigating complex grief after a parent dies from an overdose. I also discuss how parental SUD and overdose leads to reduced mental well-being, poorer social functioning, and maladaptive coping among children. I also touch on the experiences of children with SUD/overdose incidents. Download the one-pager (PDF). This project was supported by Grant [5PBJA-22-AG-00031-MUMU] awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. Points of view or opinions in this podcast are those of the host and the research team and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.