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The impact of parental substance
abuse on the lives of domestic violence survivors
Jospitre, T., Sage, R.E., Chu, M., Griffing, S., Madry,
L. & Primm, B. J.
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Previous URI research studies (Grifffing et. al 2002 and Jospitre et.
al 2005) found parental substance abuse to be a contributing factor
to childhood abuse and neglect among adult victims of domestic violence.
Current research shows that parental substance abuse is increasingly
being recognized as a factor in most foster care placements and that
lifetime substance abuse is widespread among youths in foster care
(NSDUH Report 2005). In light of these findings, we interviewed adult
female residents (N=277) of two New York City domestic violence shelters
regarding their experiences with parental substance abuse, parental
involvement with the criminal justice system, and their own involvement
with foster care. Consistent with our hypotheses, chi-square analyses
revealed an association between parental substance abuse and parental
criminal justice involvement (p<. 01) and an association between
parental substance abuse and survivor placement in fostercare (p<.
01). Independent sample t-tests revealed that survivors with substance-abusing
mothers stayed in foster care significantly longer than survivors
without a maternal substance abuse history (M= 43.17 mos. vs. M= 18.84
mos.) (t= -2.02, p= .037). Paternal substance abuse was unrelated
to survivors’ length of stay in foster care. Clinical implications
for the prevention and treatment of substance abuse among domestic
violence survivors are discussed. |
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