A study by the National Institute on Drug Abusewhich analyzed between 2011 to 2021an estimated 321,656 children living in the United States lost a parent between the ages of 18 and 64 to drug overdose, and the rate of children losing a parent to overdose increased during this period.
According to the analysis, the findings indicate that responses to the overdose crisis must take into account the full burden of overdose on families and children, including addressing the economic, social, educational and health care needs of children who have lost his parents due to an overdose.
Until now, no national study had previously looked at the number of children affected by the overdose crisis. Study co-author Dr. Emily Einstein, chief of NIDA’s Science Policy Division, said: The study was inspired by similar research during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the decade studied, 649,599 people between the ages of 18 and 64 died from drug overdoses. The study found that children were more likely to lose their fathers than their mothers.
“Something that’s very important about this particular data set is that it paints a picture of people who use drugs as people who have full lives,” Einstein said.
“I think too often we think that people who are addicted or who use drugs are their defining characteristic, especially when someone dies of an overdose… Almost half of these people who die have a child living in their home. I think that gives us concrete data so we can begin to understand the big picture of someone’s entire life and how we need to address all the factors in their life, both for their own addiction and to mitigate the trauma experienced by the children left behind. ”he continued.
According to the researchers, Overdose deaths of parents can have a profound short- and long-term impact on their childrenbut little is known about the number of children who have lost a parent to drug overdoses in the country.
While “the largest number of children affected were those with non-Hispanic white parents,” the study found that children from “communities of color and tribal communities were disproportionately affected,” according to the news release.
Einstein said the rising numbers showed the overdose crisis is an “emergency of the highest order.”
“It is important to note that children who live in homes where their parents use drugs are very likely to have environmental risk factors and probably biological risk factors that may increase their own likelihood of using drugs,” Einstein said. “And then if you add this traumatic event of losing a parent to an overdose, that means these children are extraordinarily vulnerable.”
In conclusion, The study called for a greater focus on comprehensive health care that treats substance use disorder and prevention resources that can be used to support families. Einstein said children who lose parents to overdoses should be able to access “the support and psychiatric care they need as they grow.”
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