Resilience factors

The following are resilience factors that can protect, or help reduce, the negative impact of parental substance problems on children in the family:

• Good communication between parents and between parents and children: parents often think they can ‘hide’ their substance use from their children but the children do know and it doesn’t help not to talk about it as it leaves the child having to ‘fill in the gaps’ and feeling they are to blame
  
  
• Basic needs met: food, clothing, hygiene. This may seem obvious but this speaks directly to the child’s needs for healthy physical and emotional development.
  
  
• Good relationship with non-using parent: this can help maintain stability and boundaries that sometimes are not present with the drinking or using parent
  
  
• Education about parent’s alcohol and drug use: children will not understand why the parent doesn’t just stop and why they behave as they do under the influence. Education helps them to understand more and remove some of the confusion and self-blame they may be experiencing.
  
  
• Reassurance they are not to blame: children often believe it is something they have done wrong that has ‘made’ their parent behave in this way. Parents and other people providing support need to offer reassurance to the children that they are blame free.
  
  
• Understanding parent is trying to stop/reduce
  
  
• Supportive grandparents and siblings: grandparents can offer respite to the child from a potentially difficult home environment. Both grandparents and siblings can also always offer someone to talk to and emotional stability.
  
  
• Someone to talk to and share problems with: some studies suggest that children prefer to talk to other children about their problems although some will choose to talk to an adult who they trust. Children do not want to get their parent into trouble by talking to the wrong people.
  
  
• Peer support: having friends to support them can make them feel less isolated
  
  
• External support: eg. school or community resources. Having support outside the home, particularly in a school or youth group environment offers structure, support, and positive adult role models
  
  
• Structure and routine to life: even if one parent’s behaviour is chaotic and inconsistent, ensuring that the child receives structure and routine, either from the non-using parent or from close family or friends, will help the child’s development.
  
  
• Ability to play: being able to play, experience fun and get away from home, protects children from becoming withdrawn and isolated.
  
  
• Feeling safe and secure: again a basic need that protects children from living in fear, and becoming mentally and emotionally scarred.
  
  
• Positive and friendly attitudes from staff to both parents and children: children living in environments characterised by a degree of disorganisation and conflict will be very sensitive to the moods of those around them. Ensuring parents and children are met with friendly and supportive approach will help the child to relax and build better relationships with the external agency staff.
  
  
• Deliberate planning by child for a better future: this is a good sign that the child is able to look ahead and envision a future without their current family problems.
  
  
• Strong self-esteem: where children have strong self-esteem, evidence suggests children cope better with the potential negative impact of parental substance problems. Similarly if children have experience of success and achievement, this acts as a protective mechanism.
  
  
• High verbal and cognitive skills: this is likely to help improve the child’s understanding of the situation and make it easier for them to talk about it

• Ability to use adults as resources: if a child has been taught or learnt how to use adults around him for support, they are more likely to seek help and find a positive adult resource to draw on.
  
• Adequate economic status: having enough money means a child is more likely to have its basic needs met as well as to have access to other resources that act as protective factors, eg. bus fare to friends, membership of club, money for school dinner.

The role of the social worker is to build on, or build up, resilience factors in the child’s life at the same time as supporting the parent to address their substance problem.

Impact on parenting | Impact on children | Assessment and intervention
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