Peer-reviewed article
The Enduring Effects of Parental Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug Use on Child Well-being: A Multilevel Meta-Analysis
Sofie Kuppens, Simon Moore, Vanessa Gross, Emily Lowthian, Andy P. Siddaway ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This meta-analysis combined results from 56 longitudinal observational studies, giving 220 effect sizes, on how parental alcohol, tobacco and drug use relates to child well-being over time. It covered children aged 0 to 18 years. It found a small but statistically significant link between parental substance use and worse child well-being (r = .15). The link was stronger for parental drug use than for alcohol or tobacco use. The authors call for future studies that cover a wider range of child well-being outcomes.
Key points
- 56 peer-reviewed, English-language longitudinal observational studies (220 dependent effect sizes) were included.
- Overall, parental substance abuse was linked to a small detriment to child well-being over time (r = .15).
- The effect was larger for parental drug use (r = .25) than for alcohol use (r = .13), tobacco use (r = .13) and alcohol use disorder (r = .14).
- Future studies need to capture the full breadth of childhood well-being outcomes.
- Substance abuse should be built into models that specify the conditions under which parental behaviour shapes child well-being.
Limitations
The abstract does not say which countries the included studies came from, and the studies are observational, so the results show associations, not proof of cause. Only English-language, peer-reviewed studies were included, and the abstract gives no detail on which well-being outcomes or moderators were examined beyond substance type.
Abstract
The effects of psychoactive substance abuse are not limited to the user, but extend to the entire family system, with children of substance abusers being particularly at risk. This meta-analysis attempted to quantify the longitudinal relationship between parental alcohol, tobacco, and drug use and child well-being, investigating variation across a range of substance and well-being indices and other potential moderators. We performed a literature search of peer-reviewed, English language, longitudinal observational studies that reported outcomes for children aged 0 to 18 years. In total, 56 studies, yielding 220 dependent effect sizes, met inclusion criteria. A multilevel random-effects model revealed a statistically significant, small detriment to child well-being for parental substance abuse over time (r = .15). Moderator analyses demonstrated that the effect was more pronounced for parental drug use (r = .25), compared with alcohol use (r = .13), tobacco use (r = .13), and alcohol use disorder (r = .14). Results highlight a need for future studies that better capture the effect of parental psychoactive substance abuse on the full breadth of childhood well-being outcomes and to integrate substance abuse into models that specify the precise conditions under which parental behavior determines child well-being.Registration: PROSPERO CRD42017076088.