Experiences of young adults raised by substance-abusing parents in Roma, Lesotho

Abstract

Parenting for some people is a wonderful learning experience. However, parental substance abuse may pose a threat to the beautiful endeavor of parenting. This is because of the negative outcomes that come with parental substance abuse and the extremely high prevalence of substance abuse in Lesotho and across the globe. There are currently many studies which deliberate the experiences of minor children raised by substance-abusing parents while ignoring young adults. As a result, the study is exploring the experiences of young adults raised by substance-abusing parents in Roma, Lesotho was conducted. The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences of young adults raised by substance-abusing parents by finding out how parental substance abuse affect young adult's intimate relationships, exploring the effects of parental substance abuse on young adult's social interactions, and examining the effects of parental substance abuse on young adult's emotions. Also, the study aimed to explore how parental substance abuse affects young adult's emotions and finally exploring discovering the coping mechanisms of young adults raised by substance-abusing parents. The study also seeks to impart knowledge about parental substance abuse and how it affects young adults in Lesotho. Data were collected from thirteen young adults who were raised by substance-abusing parents during the first three weeks of May 2021. The researcher collected data through in-depth interviews. One interview was conducted for each participant which lasted for forty-five minutes to one hour. Of the thirteen participants, nine young adults were single, while four of them were married. All these young adults were between the age groups of 17-30. Research participants were selected using both purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data while thematic analysis was employed to analyze data (Brown and Clarke, 2012). The Study further revealed that young adults raised by substance-abusing parents have suffered tremendous consequences because of parental substance abuse. Such consequences included mistrust and bad communication between their intimate partners. This also included Intimate partner violence (physical and emotional abuse) in young vi adults' intimate relationships. Further, young adults raised by substance-abusing parents also experienced bad family relations and bad treatment from family members. This also leads to them having dysfunctional families, low self-esteem, and high rates of self-isolation, stigmatization and discrimination. A small fraction of the findings also indicated that young adults had less experience the above-mentioned consequences of parental substance abuse. Young adults raised by substance-abusing parents in this study further experienced child abuse and neglect while growing up. This was attributed to parental substance abuse. As a result, while growing up, young adults were bullied (by other children) and they also bullied other children. Consequently, young adults also experienced loneliness and had suicidal thoughts while growing up. This, therefore, resulted in a majority of young adults raised by substance-abusing parents resorting to substances as a means of coping with parental substance abuse. A small fraction of the findings also revealed that young adults less experience the above stipulated negative effects of parental substance abuse. Subsequently, the following recommendations were made to significantly reduce or eliminate challenges or problems that are a result of parental substance abuse. These included counseling or therapeutic interventions, advocating for more foster care homes, substance abuse treatments, the building of rehabilitation centers across the country, suggestions to community volunteers and educators (about parental substance abuse), and finally mentorship programmes for young adults raised by substance-abusing parents.