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Lookup NU author(s): Debbie SmartORCiD, Dr Simon BarrettORCiD, Dr Angela Bate, Dr Eilish Gilvarry, Professor Vera Araujo Soares, Professor Eileen KanerORCiD, Professor Ruth McGovernORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Purpose: Four hundred and seventy- eight thousand children in England are reported to live with a parent who uses substances. The presence of a stable non-substance using caregiver within the family has been found to be one protective factor for children (Velleman and Templeton, 2016), yet there is a lack of research examining how to intervene with non-substance using parents/ caregivers. This study aimed to: co-produce an intervention for non-substance using parents/caregivers and their children. Design: The study had three phases: (i) interviews with practitioners, exploring their perceptions of whom non-substance using parents/caregivers seek support from, the type of support needs they had, and what influenced their decision making; (ii) interviews with parents/caregivers to examine their support needs and experiences of help seeking; (iii) co-production workshops with parents/caregivers and practitioners to discuss the findings and design of an intervention. Findings: Parents/caregivers reported experiencing challenges in talking to their child(ren) about the other parent/caregiver’s substance use. They highlighted the importance of a structured intervention to support them to initiate conversations with children about how parental substance use impacted the child and wider family in a way that parents/caregivers felt was age appropriate and sensitive and supported them in their caregiving role to children. Originality: There is a lack of research examining how to intervene with non-substance using parents or other caregivers to support them in their parent/caregiver role. This study suggests ways for parents/caregivers to provide emotional support to their child impacted by parental substance use.
Author(s): Smart D, Barrett S, Bate A, Berresford L, McEvoy-Carr C, Thompson H, Gilvarry E, Araujo Soares V, Kaner E, McGovern R
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Children's Services
Year: 2026
Pages: epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 09/04/2026
Acceptance date: 23/09/2025
Date deposited: 17/05/2026
ISSN (print): 1746-6660
ISSN (electronic): 2042-8677
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
URL: https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-05-2024-0015
ePrints DOI: 10.57711/4ycm-bm45
