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Influence of Caregiver Substance Dependence and Serious Mental Illness on Children’s Mental Health: Moderating Effects of Social Support

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Abstract

This study examined the relationships between caregiver alcohol dependence, drug dependence, and serious mental illness and internalizing and externalizing behaviors and whether these risks were moderated by social support. The study included 3,225 children ages 2–17 and their current caregivers, who participated in the second cohort of the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Regression analysis indicated that caregiver alcohol dependence, serious mental illness, and social support were significantly associated with internalizing behaviors and caregiver serious mental illness and social support were significantly associated with externalizing behaviors. Results indicated that social support moderated the associations between caregiver alcohol dependence and internalizing and caregiver drug dependence and externalizing behaviors. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect, funded by the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families and U.S. Department of Health and Humans Service, provided the second cohort of the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-Being data used in this study. The expressed opinions in this article are solely the positions of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Portland State University School of Social Work, Academic Student Recreation Center Ste. 600, 1800 SW 6th Ave., Portland, OR, 97201, USA

    Keva M. Miller & E. Roberto Orellana

  2. University of Georgia School of Social Work, Tucker Hall | 310 East Campus Road, Athens, GA, 30602-7016, USA

    Harold E. Briggs & Adam Quinn

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  1. Keva M. Miller
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  2. E. Roberto Orellana
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  3. Harold E. Briggs
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Correspondence to Keva M. Miller.

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Miller, K.M., Orellana, E.R., Briggs, H.E. et al. Influence of Caregiver Substance Dependence and Serious Mental Illness on Children’s Mental Health: Moderating Effects of Social Support. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 31, 435–454 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-014-0326-8

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