Are fathers and mothers equally likely to abuse substances?
No. The 2001 SAMSHA survey found that fathers (8%) were nearly twice as likely to abuse substances as mothers (4%). However, these rates were lower than substance abuse in the general population, which was 14% for men and 6% for women. How does living with an alcoholic or addict parent influence short-term child development? A 1996 study found that over half of runaways reported drug and/or alcohol abuse in the home. Moreover, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, nearly 40% of child abuse cases involved alcohol use immediately before the incident occurred (Read Substance Abuse: “Causing” and “Coping with” Domestic Violence). In SAMHSA’s 2002 survey, the researchers found that households with a parent who abused alcohol were more likely to report “turbulence” than their non-abusing counterparts. The survey defined turbulence as including serious arguments among family members, insults, yelling, and physical abuse. Clearly, children in families with alcoholic or addict parents ar
