Children's Needs – Parenting Capacity - Digital Education Resource ...

186 Children’s Needs – Parenting Capacity...when I done things in school, it used to be, phew, well, nobody cares, my madoesn’t care, so...(Nineteen-year-old girl of drug-using parent, quoted in Barnard 2007,p.92)Self-harm is associated with feeling isolated, academic pressures, suicide orself-harm by someone close, family problems, being bullied and low self-esteem(Mental Health Foundation 2006). Many of these factors are issues confrontingthe children of parents with mental illness, learning disabilities, alcohol and drugmisuse and domestic violence. Similarly, suicide in young people is related to anarray of coexisting problems rather than a single issue such as parental mental illnessor parental alcohol problems. For example, increased risk of suicide in young peopleis found to be associated with parental suicide or early death, hospitalisation formental illness, unemployment, low income, poor schooling and divorce (Agerboet al. 2002). More recent research by Brent and colleagues (2007) shows similarresults; a family history of both depression and substance abuse and lifetime historyof parent–child discord were most closely associated with adolescent suicide.Young people whose parents have a multiplicity of serious problems are more atrisk of coming into contact with the law. This may result because young people feelthe need to acquire funds for what are seen as essential purchases. When money foreveryday household goods is spent on gratifying parental drinking or drug needs,young people may resort to illegitimate methods to obtain money. Alternatively,they may come in contact with the law because of their antisocial behaviour. Itcould be argued that because young people feel bad about themselves they are lesslikely to care about the consequences of their behaviour. As a result they are more atrisk of conduct disorders and criminal behaviour. ‘I go and do something – get caught... it just started me being bad and all that’ (Laybourn et al. 1996, p.81).Not all young people feel that they have enduring problems as a result of their ownparents’ disorders. Young people cope in different ways depending on a multitudeof factors including personality or disposition, the presence of a supportive andharmonious family environment and an external support system such as schools,career and other important adults (Velleman and Orford 2001). The followingquotation illustrates how different members of one family coped with their parents’substance misuse.We all coped differently ... I coped by believing everything my mother said wasright ... my dad was bad. My brother coped by rebelling but he might have rebelledanyway ... My sister just kept herself to herself and studied incessantly.(Young adult, quoted in Laybourn et al. 1996, p.82)