Stress and strain: a qualitative study into the impact of having relatives with addiction problems on students’ health and daily lives

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To explore the impact of having relatives with addiction problems on students’ health, substance use, social life, and cognitive functioning, and to establish possible contributions of the participants’ gender, type of relationship, and type of addiction of the relative(s).

Methods

A qualitative, cross-sectional study of semi-structured interviews with thirty students from a University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands who had relatives with addiction problems.

Results

Nine major themes were identified: (1) violence; (2) death, illness, and accidents of relatives; (3) informal care; (4) perception of addiction; (5) ill health, use of alcohol and illegal drugs; (6) financial problems; (7) pressured social life; (8) affected cognitive functioning, and (9) disclosure.

Conclusions

Having relatives with addiction problems severely affected the life and health of participants. Women were more likely to be informal carers, to experience physical violence, and to choose a partner with addiction problems than men. Conversely, men more often struggled with their own substance use. Participants who did not share their experiences reported more severe health complaints. It was impossible to make comparisons based on the type of relationship or type of addiction because participants had more than one relative or addiction in the family.

KEYWORDS:

• Addiction
• family
• stress
• strain
• family history of alcoholism
• qualitative
• Affected Family Members (AFM)
• violence
• mental health
• university students

Acknowledgments

We deeply thank the thirty young people who participated in our research for their trust and the openness with which they spoke about their stressful and often difficult family circumstances and the impact it had on them.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study (interview transcripts) are not publicly available because they contain information that could compromise the privacy of research participants but are available from the corresponding author [DvN] upon reasonable request.

Statement of ethics

This study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Faculty of Health, Medicine, and Life Sciences Research Ethics Committee of Maastricht University (approval number FHML-REC/2020/094). Participants were assured of confidentiality and informed (verbally and in writing) about the goal of the research and the procedures (voluntary participation, anonymity). All thirty participants provided written informed consent. Data were processed anonymously.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2023.2223864.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The study was funded by a doctoral grant from the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. This study was part of Vital Delta: Medical Delta’s journey towards vitality and health, funded by Taskforce for Applied Research SIA and Medical Delta. The funders played no role in this study’s design, conduct, or reporting.

Notes on contributors

Dorine M. van Namen

Dorine van Namen worked as a journalist for most of her working life. In 2020, she began her PhD research, which focuses on the impact of having relatives with addiction problems on the health and life of young adult family members.

Vera Knapen

Vera Knapen is a junior researcher in the field of health education and promotion.

AnneLoes van Staa

AnneLoes van Staa is professor Transitions in Care at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. Her research focus is on patients’ lived experiences with chronic illness, patient participation in care, self-management support by professionals, and the vitality and health of healthcare professionals and students. In 2019, she was awarded the first Dutch Delta Award, a national prize of €500K for her excellence in combining applied research, practice improvement, and professional education.

Hein de Vries

Hein de Vries is a professor in health communication at Maastricht University. His research focuses on understanding factors related to health behaviors and health policies using and testing the I-Change Model, and developing and implementing evidence-based health promoting interventions, such as school-based programs, health counseling protocols, and computer tailored eHealth.

Sander R. Hilberink

Sander Hilberink is a professor ‘Ageing with lifelong disabilities’ at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. He published on smoking cessation support for COPD patients in general practice, alcohol, benzodiazepines, and nicotine dependence.

Gera E. Nagelhout

Gera E. Nagelhout is Chief Science Officer of IVO Research Institute in The Hague and Endowed Professor at the Department of Health Promotion of Maastricht University in the Netherlands. Her research focuses on health, well-being, and addiction among people of lower socioeconomic status.