Supporting the wounded: Parents of adolescents recovering from substance use disorder

Abstract

Background: The increase of adolescent substance use disorders (SUDs) around the world has a lot of negative effects on the parents and frequently degrades their quality of life. Substance use disorder is a critical issue recognised as a chronic, complex health and social condition. Parents of adolescents recovering from SUD may suffer significantly as a result of the wide range of negative emotions that come with having adolescents recovering from SUD. From the extant literature, there is little evidence of the strategies used to address the support needs of parents who carry the burden of adolescent SUD care.

Aim: The authors focused on exploring the support needs of parents living with adolescents recovering from SUD.

Setting: The study was conducted in Tshwane, where they struggling with adolescent SUD issues, making it challenging to foster stable communities and social cohesion. Data were collected at the three in-patient treatment centres.

Methods: Qualitative reseach was used to understand the phenomenon using ecological systems theory. The researchers conducted face to face interviews with parents, employing semi-structured method through purposive sampling.

Results: The findings highlighted the following themes: The findings highlighted the following them: experiences of parenting an adolescent recovering from SUD, the support needed for parents and the desired services to help them cope.

Conclusion: Parents expressed feeling overwhelmed and struggling to cope with adolescents recovering from SUD.

Contribution: The study benefits the social work profession in the field of substance dependency by finding ways to support parents of adolescents recovering from SUD.