JUNE 18, 2024
An estimated 321,566 children in the United States lost a parent to a drug overdose from 2011 to 2021, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry. The rate of children who experienced such losses more than doubled during this period, from approximately 27 to 63 children per 100,000 population.
The study (2024 May 8. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024. 0810)—a collaborative effort led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) National Institute on Drug
An estimated 321,566 children in the United States lost a parent to a drug overdose from 2011 to 2021, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry. The rate of children who experienced such losses more than doubled during this period, from approximately 27 to 63 children per 100,000 population.
The study (2024 May 8. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024. 0810)—a collaborative effort led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the CDC—“shows lives lost from overdose crisis are felt across generations,” according to an NIH press release.
No national study had previously estimated the number of children who lost a parent to a drug overdose. To address this gap, the researchers used data on people aged 18 to 64 years, participating in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health for 2010 to 2019, to determine the number of children younger than 18 years living with a parent (biological parent, adoptive parent, stepparent or adult guardian) who used drugs in the past year.
The researchers then used these data to estimate the number of children of the nearly 650,000 people who died of an overdose during 2011 to 2021 based on the national mortality data from the CDC National Vital Statistics System. The data were examined by age group (18-25, 26-40 and 41-64 years old), sex, and self-reported race and ethnicity.
The highest numbers of deaths were among parents aged 26 to 40, affecting 175,355 children, and non-Hispanic white parents, with 234,164 children. The next highest numbers were children with Hispanic parents (40,062) and those with non-Hispanic Black parents (35,743). Communities of color and tribal communities were disproportionately affected.
Children with non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native parents experienced the highest rate of loss of a parent to overdose from 2011 to 2021, at 187 per 100,000 children in 2021—more than double the rate among non-Hispanic white children, at 76.5 per 100,000 and non-Hispanic Black children, at 73 per 100,000. The number of affected children increased from 2011 to 2021 across all racial and ethnic groups, but children with young non-Hispanic Black parents (18-25 years old) showed the highest rate of loss increase (roughly 24%). Children lost fathers more often than mothers (192,459 vs. 129,107 children) during this period.
“It is devastating to see that almost half of the people who died of a drug overdose had a child,” said NIDA Director Nora Volkow, MD. “No family should lose their loved one to an overdose, and each of these deaths represents a tragic loss that could have been prevented.
“These findings emphasize the need to better support parents in accessing prevention, treatment and recovery services,” Volkow said. “In addition, any child who loses a parent to overdose must receive the care and support they need to navigate this painful and traumatic experience.”
Based on a press release from NIH.
