Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 May 3:7:100400.
doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100400. eCollection 2019 Apr.

Household member substance problems and children's health in the United States

Kristin Turney  1 , Alexandra Olsen  1
Affiliations

Household member substance problems and children's health in the United States

Kristin Turney et al. SSM Popul Health. .

Abstract

A sizable number of children are exposed to household member substance problems, an adverse childhood experience (ACE), yet little research uses a nationally representative sample of U.S. children to examine this association. We used newly released data from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), a nationally representative sample of noninstitutionalized children in the United States, and logistic regression models to investigate the relationship between household member substance problems and 14 indicators of children's health. We find 9.0% of children in the United States have experienced household member substance problems. We also find children exposed to household member substance problems are more likely to have health problems than children not exposed to household member substance problems, but that most of these descriptive differences can be explained by household characteristics and other ACEs. Children exposed to household member substance problems are a vulnerable population. Given that household member substance problems are concentrated among socioeconomically disadvantaged children, children at a greater risk of health problems than their counterparts, this ACE may exacerbate existing socioeconomic inequalities in children's health.

Keywords: Children's health; Household member substance problems; National Survey of Children's Health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Weighted frequencies of household member drug or alcohol problem, by child age (N = 50,212).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Anda R.F., Croft J.B., Felitti V.J., Nordenberg D., Giles W.H., Williamson D.F. Adverse childhood experiences and smoking during adolescence and adulthood. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1999;282(17):1652–1658. - PubMed
    2. Anda RF, Croft JB, Felitti VJ, Nordenberg D, Giles WH, Williamson DF, Giovino GA. Adverse childhood experiences and smoking during adolescence and adulthood. JAMA. 1999;282(17):1652-1658. doi: 10.1001/jama.282.17.1652. - PubMed
    1. Avison W.R. Incorporating children's lives into a life course perspective on stress and mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 2010;51(4):361–375. - PubMed
    2. Avison WR. Incorporating children’s lives into a life course perspective on stress and mental health. J Health Soc Behav. 2010;51(4), 361-375. doi: 10.1177/0022146510386797 - PubMed
    1. Berg L., Bäck K., Vinnerljung B., Hjern A. Parental alcohol-related disorders and school performance in 16 year olds-a Swedish national cohort study. Addiction. 2016;111:1795–1803. - PMC - PubMed
    2. Berg L, Back K, Vinnerljung B, Hjern A. Parental alcohol-related disorders and school performance in 16 year olds-a Swedish national cohort study. Addict. 2016;111:1795-1803. doi: 10.1111/add.13454 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bloom B., Cohen R.A., Freeman G. Summary health statistics for U.S. children: National health interview survey, 2008. Vital Health Stat. 2009;10(244):1–81. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_244.pdf - PubMed
    2. Bloom B, Cohen RA, Freeman G. Summary health statistics for U.S. children: National health interview survey, 2008. Vital Health Stat 10. 2009;(244):1-81. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_244.pdf - PubMed
    1. Bzostek S.H., Beck A.N. Familial instability and young children's physical health. Social Science & Medicine. 2011;73(2):282–292. - PubMed
    2. Bzostek SH, Beck AN. Familial instability and young children’s physical health. Soc Sci Med. 2011;73(2):282-292. Doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.04.014 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources