Mending the Roots: Becoming a Parent After Experiencing Childhood in a Substance Abusing Family

This study explores the impact of the long-range effects on adult children raised with a substance abusing parent and the outcome of that on their own parenting skills. The current body of research focuses primarily on the experiences of the substance abusing individual, or their respective children. Very few focus on the extended implications that are present in the parenting skills of a substance abusing individual’s adult children. To address this aperture in research, this study examines the parenting experience of adult children of substance abusing parents in six participants. The study implements the use of the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. This method consists of 90-minute, in-depth, semi-structured interviews that focus on the participant’s lived experience. The analysis of the interviews illuminated the overarching theme of The Impact of a Substance-Abusing Parent on Development and Future Parenting, which contains four main themes related to how the participants experienced growing up under the care of a substance-abusing caregiver, and how that impacted their parenting later in life. These themes included: Parenting Experiences and Intergenerational Experiences, Parenting Experiences as an Adult, Intentional Change, and Parent-Child Relationship. The findings of this study are consistent with the existing body of research on the parenting experiences of individuals who were raised with a substance-abusing caregiver, while also adding refreshed knowledge and unique and nuanced perspectives on the lived experiences of adult children of substance-abusing parents who are now parents themselves. The findings of this research will contribute to the current body of literature and may be used to further understanding and research, aid in creating supports for families who navigate the lasting effects of a substance-abusing caregiver, and lastly, validate and understand the experiences of adult children who are navigating parenthood after experiencing their formative years with a substance-abusing caregiver.