Date

5-1-2025

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

Thomas Vail

Keywords

maltreatment, trauma, mental health, adaptive behaviors, maladaptive behaviors, substance abuse, family systems, intergenerational trauma

Disciplines

Counseling

Abstract

This study focused on the lived experiences of individuals being raised by individuals who had/have substance abuse issues in the Midwest region of the United States of America. A closer look at this topic offered new insight into treatment and resources for adult children raised by parents/grandparents (collectively “parents”) with substance abuse issues (“SAI”) and how the parents’ substance abuse issues compromised the behavioral health outcomes of the adult children and affected the parents’ parenting outcomes. Understanding the role of family systems theory in adaptive and maladaptive behaviors is essential when formulating a plan to help individuals’ negatively impacted by their experiences. When systems thinking is applied to the family structure, the linear thinking and approach are removed. The focus is on the structure of the system (i.e., the family), not just the symptomatic member of the family (Friedman, 1985). The impact varies based on the individual. While some adult children raised by parents with substance abuse issues can develop adaptive behaviors as a result of their experiences, others can instead develop unhealthy coping mechanisms. This study collected data from individual interviews. The focus of this phenomenological study was to observe the lived experiences of 8-15 adult children of parents or grandparents who had SAI during the period of childhood, that childrearing occurred in the Midwest region of the United States of America, and those adult children are now ages 25-45.

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