Psychiatric Disorders in Children of Parents With Substance Dependence Disorder

Objectives: Children of addicted parents exhibit depression, anxiety, and elevated rates of psychiatric disorders more frequently than do children from nonaddicted families. Hence, we conducted this research to illustrate the psychiatric illness of children of substance-dependent parents. Materials and Methods: The study included 50 children [25 with a parent diagnosed with substance use disorder according Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-4th edition criteria (group A), and 25 whose parents had no psychiatric diagnosis according to general health questionnaire (group B)]. The subjects were recruited from the Heliopolis Psychiatric Hospital, which is a Ministry of Health Hospital. They were assessed using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents (MINI KID) scale. We, furthermore, assessed the relation between the Addiction Severity Index, type of substance used by group A parents, and the MINI KID scale. Results: Group A showed more significant diagnosis than group B (P=0.037) by the MINI KID scale (major depressive disorder, dysthymia, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and separation anxiety disorder) (P=0.018, 0.037, 0.042, 0.021, and 0.004, respectively). Hence, the substance abuse parent has a detrimental effect on their children’s well-being. As regards the relation between addiction severity and result of MINI KID scale in group A, only “employment” was significant (P=0.025). Surprisingly, neither the severity of substance abused nor the type of substance abused by the parent had significant relation with the diagnosed psychiatric disorders in their children. Conclusions: Our study found that the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children increases when their parents have substance use disorder. Moreover, the variation of the severity of parent addiction does not affect the risk for having psychiatric disorders in their children.