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