 |
|
Girls growing up with heroin-addicted parent more resilient than boys
February 12, 2009Growing up with a heroin-addicted parent exposes children to a variety of detrimental experiences before the age of 18 and new research indicates that girls are four times more resilient than boys in overcoming such adverse events.
In addition to having a heroin-addicted parent, these experiences include family mental illness, having a parent jailed, family violence, being a victim of abuse and having a parent die, and the study found 70 percent of the children were exposed to two or more of these events. In addition, 62 percent had three or more adverse experiences and 22 percent reported four or more. By contrast, just 3 percent reported no adverse experiences other than having an opiate-dependent parent.
"These are very high-risk kids with at least one parent who is addicted to heroin," said Martie Skinner, a research scientist with the University of Washington's Social Development Research Group and lead author of a new study. "What we mean by resilience is a reasonable transition to adulthood by working or being in school, avoiding substance abuse and staying out of trouble with the law in the past five years. These seem like ordinary expectations, but only 30 of the 125 young adults we studied met them."
Women were more likely to be resilient, primarily because males were more likely to have had criminal charges, she said.
The study was based on data collected from young adults at two points in time from families recruited at two Seattle-area methadone clinics. The families initially were recruited between 1991 and 1993 for an intervention study of opiate-dependent parents in methadone treatment and their families. Their children were re-interviewed in 2005 and 2006 when they were an average of 23 years old. The young adults were predominately white or mixed race and almost equally divided by sex.
The rates of exposure to adverse childhood experiences far exceeded those in an earlier general survey of 15,000 adults enrolled in a California hospital plan. In the California study, 22 percent reported having three or more childhood adversities (vs. 62 percent in the new study) and 36 percent (vs. 3 percent) reported none.
In addition to having a drug addicted parent, the most common detrimental events experienced during childhood in the UW study were having a parent who was jailed (84 percent) and having mental illness in the family (78 percent).
The researchers also looked for factors that either promoted or interfered with later resiliency. Only high childhood scores on internalizing behaviors - such as being nervous, fearful, anxious, depressed and having sudden mood changes - or externalizing behaviors - such as acting cruelly, being disobedient, lying, bullying and having temper tantrums - were predictive. Children who were high in either of these behaviors were significantly less likely to show resiliency and more likely to have adjustment problems when they were young adults.
There were no significant differences in the findings based on race, and the researchers found that the number of different types of adverse experiences did not predict resiliency.
"This research and the earlier Focus on Families study highlight how vulnerable these children are," said Skinner. "It also indicates that there are early warning signs, and if children get the attention they need to meet early problems it can reduce the burden on society later on in caring for them."
Skinner warned that the study may not be representative of all children growing up in a home with a heroin-addicted parent because of the limited sample size.
University of Washington
Women were more likely to be resilient, primarily because males were more likely to have had criminal charges, she said.
The study was based on data collected from young adults at two points in time from families recruited at two Seattle-area methadone clinics. The families initially were recruited between 1991 and 1993 for an intervention study of opiate-dependent parents in methadone treatment and their families. Their children were re-interviewed in 2005 and 2006 when they were an average of 23 years old. The young adults were predominately white or mixed race and almost equally divided by sex.
The rates of exposure to adverse childhood experiences far exceeded those in an earlier general survey of 15,000 adults enrolled in a California hospital plan. In the California study, 22 percent reported having three or more childhood adversities (vs. 62 percent in the new study) and 36 percent (vs. 3 percent) reported none.
In addition to having a drug addicted parent, the most common detrimental events experienced during childhood in the UW study were having a parent who was jailed (84 percent) and having mental illness in the family (78 percent).
The researchers also looked for factors that either promoted or interfered with later resiliency. Only high childhood scores on internalizing behaviors - such as being nervous, fearful, anxious, depressed and having sudden mood changes - or externalizing behaviors - such as acting cruelly, being disobedient, lying, bullying and having temper tantrums - were predictive. Children who were high in either of these behaviors were significantly less likely to show resiliency and more likely to have adjustment problems when they were young adults.
There were no significant differences in the findings based on race, and the researchers found that the number of different types of adverse experiences did not predict resiliency.
"This research and the earlier Focus on Families study highlight how vulnerable these children are," said Skinner. "It also indicates that there are early warning signs, and if children get the attention they need to meet early problems it can reduce the burden on society later on in caring for them."
Skinner warned that the study may not be representative of all children growing up in a home with a heroin-addicted parent because of the limited sample size.
University of Washington
Heroin Current Events and Heroin News RSSWhy can't some people give up cocaine?
Drug dependency is a recurrent but treatable kind of addiction. However, not all people who are drug dependent progress in the same way once they stop taking drugs.
Think what you eat: Studies point to cellular factors linking diet and behavior
New research released today is affirming a long-held maxim: you are what you eat - and, more to the point, what you eat has a profound influence on the brain.
Researchers explore long-term adolescent vulnerability to drugs
As part of efforts to understand drug abuse, Georgia State University researchers are finding that adolescent rats appear to be less vulnerable to the long-term effects of withdrawal and relapse in certain types of drug use than rats that take the drugs in adulthood.
Study finds US prison system falls short in treating drug addiction
Almost a quarter of a million individuals addicted to heroin are incarcerated in the United States each year. However, many prison systems across the country still do not offer medical treatment for heroin and opiate addiction, despite the demonstrated social, medical and economic benefits of opiate replacement therapy (ORT).
Excessive exercise can be addicting, new study says
Although exercise is good for your health, extreme exercise may be physically addicting. Rats given a drug that produces withdrawal in heroin addicts went into withdrawal after running excessively in exercise wheels, according to new research. Rats that ran the hardest had the most severe withdrawal symptoms.
Cocaine and heroin harm placenta
Cocaine and heroin increase permeability of the placenta. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology have shown that exposure to the drugs causes an increase in the passage of some chemicals into the fetus.
New information points to safer methadone use for treatment of pain and addiction
New findings may significantly improve the safety of methadone, a drug widely used to treat cancer pain and addiction to heroin and other opioid drugs, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Washington in Seattle.
'Recovery coaches' effective in reducing number of babies exposed to drugs
About 11 percent of the 4 million babies born in the U.S. each year have been exposed to alcohol or illicit drugs in the womb, according to a June 2006 report by the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare.
Hebrew University scientists succeed through stem cell therapy in reversing brain birth defects
Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have succeeded in reversing brain birth defects in animal models, using stem cells to replace defective brain cells.
Success of anti-meth ads questioned by study
An independent review investigating the effectiveness of a publicly funded graphic anti-methamphetamine advertising campaign has found that the campaign has been associated with many negative outcomes.
More Heroin Current Events and Heroin News Articles
 |
Acts of Worship Starring: Christopher Kadish, Michael Hyatt, Ana Reeder, Nestor Rodriguez Directed By: Rosemary Rodriguez Also With: Luke Geissbuhler (Cinematographer), Jim Coleman (Composer), Elizabeth Downer (Editor) This focuses on the relationship between alix a young homeless addict and digna a successful photographer in manhattans lower eastside. When digna discovers alix unconcious on the stairs of her building she steps in and offers to help despite her own fears and their emotional and ethical cores are tested. Studio: Arts Alliance America Release Date: 08/14/2007 Starring: Ana Reeder Michael Hyatt Run time: 94 minutes Rating: R |
 |
Heroin by Humberto Fernandez (Author) We see it in films like Pulp Fiction and Trainspotting, read about it in the obituaries of stars like Kurt Cobain, hear about its resurgence in the latest news. We know all about heroin-and yet, beyond the myth of its powers and dangers, how much do we really know about this evermore pervasive drug? The definitive reference on the drug's history, pharmocology, psychology, and sociology, this groundbreaking work also offers a spell-binding account of heroin's power and persistent allure. Animated with vivid personal stories and vignettes, Heroin puts a human face on the long and complex story behind this notorious drug. |
 |
60 Minutes - Addicted To Heroin (October 16, 2005) While Afghanistan continues to wage battle at its border against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, there is another force within the country that threatens its stability: its production of and trafficking in heroin. Afghanistan is now the world's largest exporter of heroin and the opium used to produce it, supplying 87 percent of the world market. It's creating an infrastructure of crime and corruption that threatens the government of President Hamid Karzai. Steve Kroft reports. This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply. |
 |
Heroin by Heroin |
 |
One-Way Ticket: Our Son's Addiction to Heroin by Rita Lowenthal (Author) "There is nothing you can do, Mom; you can't compete with heroin." Josh Lowenthal to his mother, Rita; from One-Way Ticket: Our Son's Addiction to Heroin In 1970, at age 13, Josh Lowenthal used heroin for the first time and began an addiction that would be with him until he took his own life at age 38. In One-Way Ticket, his mother Rita Lowenthal retraces Josh's life from its typical, comfortable beginnings to the fragmented 25 years lost to addiction, rehab, and jail. She pieces together the painful episodes and spirals of a life-long heroin dependency: flights from various early rehab programs in the Northeast, his time on the streets of San Francisco, shoplifting and driving a taxicab to support his habit as a young adult. Showing how the lives of his family members and... |
 |
Candy Starring: Abbie Cornish, Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Budge, Roberto Meza-Mont Directed By: Neil Armfield Oscar®-nominee Heath Ledger stars as Dan, a charming but reckless young poet who falls in love with Candy (Abbie Cornish), a beautiful young student who is attracted to his bohemian lifestyle. In order to get closer to Dan, Candy joins him in his drug addiction. Their passionate relationship then alternates between bursts of ecstatic oblivion and bouts of despair and self-destruction. Hooked as much on heroin as one another, their story becomes an intense love triangle – a boy, a girl, and a drug. |
 |
The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star by Nikki Sixx (Author) In one of the most unique memoirs of addiction ever published, Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx shares mesmerizing diary entries from the year he spiraled out of control in a haze of heroin and cocaine, presented alongside riveting commentary from people who were there at the time, and from Nikki himself. When Mötley Crüe was at the height of its fame, there wasn't any drug Nikki Sixx wouldn't do. He spent days -- sometimes alone, sometimes with other addicts, friends, and lovers -- in a coke and heroin-fueled daze. The highs were high, and Nikki's journal entries reveal some euphoria and joy. But the lows were lower, often ending with Nikki in his closet, surrounded by drug paraphernalia and wrapped in paranoid delusions. Here, Nikki shares those diary entries -- some poetic, some... |
 |
Methadonia Starring: - Directed By: Michel Negroponte METHADONIA is the borderland between high and straight, where recovering heroin addicts on methadone "maintenance" exist. Passing the time on benzos and other prescription drugs that enhance the methadone, addicts find themselves in Methadonia for years, or decades. Selected for the prestigious New York Film Festival and featured on HBO, this unflinching, intimate film reveals the culture of addiction through the eyes and lives of men and women stuck in Methadonia, holding on to the hope they will wake up one morning and not think about getting high. |
 |
The Heroin User's Handbook by Francis, Ph.D. Moraes (Author) |
 |
Cocaine by Z-Ro |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |