A multiple goals/normative approach to family communication surrounding young adults' substance use problems: explicating parents' and siblings' communication challenges and strategies

Alcohol/drug use;Communication;Communication strategies;Coping;Families;Multiple goals;Normative theory;Substance use

Middleton, Ashley

关键词: Alcohol/drug use;    Communication;    Communication strategies;    Coping;    Families;    Multiple goals;    Normative theory;    Substance use;   

Others  :  https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/42207/Ashley_Middleton.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

美国|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

Recent evidence suggests that substance use can be a pervasive problem for young adults(individuals aged 18-40), with detrimental effects on their employment, health, and relationships.Although family members are often implicated in the etiology of substance use related disorders,research has rarely considered how young adults’ substance use impacts their parents andsiblings, which is problematic because substance use within the family can threaten parents’ andsiblings’ mental and physical well-being. Extant theory on substance use and families canaccount for general behavioral patterns and their association with family member stress, but itfails to consider how context-specific, situated demands complicate family membercommunication about and coping with substance use. Through qualitative interviews with 49parents and siblings, the current study developed normative theory regarding parents’ andsiblings’ experiences, specifically focusing on challenges that may arise from communicationprocesses surrounding alcohol and/or drug use. Further, the present study explicated parents’ andsiblings’ strategies for managing communication challenges. Results indicated that parents andsiblings experience communication challenges related to privacy, support, and uncertainty.Findings suggested that how parents and siblings experience and manage communicationchallenges is predicated on the nature and presence of interactional goals and meanings.Although there was some overlap between parents’ and siblings’ challenges and strategies, insome respects, parents and siblings experiences were also distinct. Results have implications forclinicians involved in family education and the treatment of substance use problems. Moreover,the current study contributes to a growing body of research on the relevance of multiple goalsand meanings to coping with health and illness.