Johannessen, Aud and Tevik, Kjerstin and Engedal, Knut and Tjelta, Thomas and Helvik, Anne-Sofie (2022) Family' members experiences of their older relative's alcohol and substance misuse. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 17, (1), 2094059. doi: 10.1080/17482631.2022.2094059.
External website: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17482...
BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption in Norway and much of the western world has increased during the past decades, in particular among older adults (> 65 years). Although living with a family member's alcohol misuse has been shown to have a significant deleterious health impact, research on this topic is both lacking and urgently needed to develop targeted health services.
AIM: To generate knowledge of how family members are affected by their older relatives' alcohol and other substance misuse problems.
METHOD: In 2020, 17 individual interviews were carried out with the wives and adult children of older adults with alcohol and other substance misuse problems. Data were analysed using content analysis.
FINDINGS: Analyses revealed two main themes; the impact of living with psychological stress over time, and impact over time on family relationships and functioning. Both included four subthemes, representing different dimensions of participants' experiences of the impact of their older relative's alcohol and substance misuse.
CONCLUSION: The challenges family members experienced through ongoing exposure to their relatives' alcohol and/or other substance misuse increased over time. These experiences had significant negative consequences for their health and life situation.
B Substances > Substances in general
B Substances > Alcohol
F Concepts in psychology > Psychological stress / emotional trauma / adversity
G Health and disease > Substance use disorder (addiction) > Alcohol use disorder
L Social psychology and related concepts > Family > Family and kinship > Family relations > Parent – child relations
L Social psychology and related concepts > Family > Family and kinship > Family and substance use
L Social psychology and related concepts > Family > Family and kinship > Family and substance use > Substance related family problems
T Demographic characteristics > Affected family members / concerned persons
T Demographic characteristics > Child of person who uses substances
VA Geographic area > Europe > Norway
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