Background: When a family encounters the problem of adolescent substance misuse, the burden of managing it often falls primarily on the mother.
Objective and methods: This research was conducted in two phases to explore the experiences of mothers of adolescents who misuse substances. Phase one was a systematic qualitative evidence synthesis of qualitative studies on the experiences of mothers of adolescents who misused substances. In this phase, conventional content analysis was used to create a narrative synthesis of themes and categories. Phase two was a qualitative study using thematic analysis to describe mothers’ experiences of parenting an adolescent who misused drugs.
Findings: Eleven qualitative studies were included in the literature review. New categories regarding mothers’ experiences emerged from the review and synthesis: 1) I love you and we can talk no matter what; 2) So this is really happening . . . My kid’s on drugs; 3) What have I done?; 4) My family is shattered: a) I can’t believe what you’re doing, b) I can’t face this, c) I’ve lost my baby; and 5) It’s not my addiction.
Four mothers were interviewed for the qualitative study. Mothers described their realities and the challenges they faced parenting an adolescent who misused drugs. Their experiences were represented in the following categories:1) recognition, 2) punishment/surveillance, 3) negative emotions, 4) relationships, 5) escalating effects, 6) strategies, and 7) home–a safe place.
Conclusions: The findings from this research contribute to our understanding of the everyday lives and struggles that mothers face with their adolescents’ substances misuse. Nurses, by implementing early targeted interventions, will meet the needs of these mothers and assist themselves and ultimately their adolescents to attain optimal wellbeing.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/35907 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | KATOUZIYAN, MASOUMEH |
| Contributors | Phillips, Craig |
| Publisher | Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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