*

Article Review
(NAME)
425/PSY
(DATE)
(INSTRUCTOR NAME)

Article Review Illegal drug abuse is “disproportionately associated with poverty, increased family stress, and neighborhoods plagued by instability, decay, and crime” (Schroeder & Fals-Stewart, 2006, p. 10). However, drug abuse tends to affect people of all socioeconomic status, race, age, and gender. The economic effect of substance abuse is estimated at $414 billion in 2001, and $109.9 billion is drug use (Schneider Institute, 2001). Drug abuse affects the drug user, the family, the job, and the very life of the abuser. The negative effect of drug abuse on family members is serious enough that there are many support groups available to family members of drug addicts. Support groups help family members better understand the drug user and equips the family with the tools necessary to emotionally and financially deal with the drug user.
Effects of Drug Abuse on Families
Substance Abuse: The Nation’s Number One Health Problem
Schneider Institute for Health Policy Children of substance abusers are more negatively affected than the parents of children who abuse drugs. Drug abusing parents face legal consequences, including imprisonment, divorce, and their children removed from the family household. Parents who abuse illegal drugs are 59% more likely than non-abusers to have psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, antisocial personality disorders, and depression (SAMHSA, 1999). This shows a clear link between psychiatric disorders and substance abuse. Parents with substance abuse, both alcohol and drugs, tend to be more irritable, overly harsh in discipline, low involvement in the children’s activities, and poor parenting skills. Comparing alcoholism and drug abuse in parents, illegal drug abuse is more associated with family disruption, child abuse and neglect, and poor parenting