Living with siblings’ drug use. Bereaved siblings’ family stories

ABSTRACT

Family members’ problematic drug use is challenging for siblings affecting their well-being and their relationships within the family. Research about siblings living with brothers or sisters’ problematic drug use and research on bereaved siblings’ experiences indicates that life situations and support needs for both minor siblings and adult siblings can easily be overlooked, both in practice and in research. This article contributes to this knowledge gap by examining how siblings provide meaning to their sibling’s drug use problem and how they position themselves and other family members accordingly. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, and fourteen bereaved siblings were interviewed. A narrative thematic analysis was chosen, and four themes were generated. These four themes, (1) Surviving difficult family life, (2) The relationships in continuous change, (3) It’s worse for the parents, and (4) “We”, as a synonym for the family, are presented in this article. Our findings demonstrated how complex and multifaceted siblings’ stories about living with their brothers or sisters’ ongoing drug use are. This study calls for more attention to siblings’ situations. Siblings’ lives are affected by their brothers or sisters’ problems, and siblings should also be involved in routine support and treatment practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Siblings
• family relations
• problematic drug use
• drug-related death
• narrative research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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 author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Sari Kaarina Lindeman

Sari Kaarina Lindeman, is clinical social worker and family therapist. She has a Master’s degree in Systemic family therapy and Professional Doctorate in Advanced Practice and Research in Systemic Psychotherapy. She has a long experience from substance use services. She is assistant professor, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Department of welfare and participation

Lillian Bruland Selseng

Lillian Bruland Selseng, is a social worker and family therapist. She has a Master’s degree in health and social care work with children and young people and PhD in social work and social policy. She has a long experience from substance use services. She is associate professor, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Department of welfare and participation

Lennart Lorås

Lennart Lorås, professor, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Department of welfare and participation, has long research experience in the family therapy and social work field, both theoretical and empirical.

Aina Helen Løberg

Aina Helen Løberg, Assistant Professor, is clinical social worker and sociologist. She is assistant professor, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Department of welfare and participation. She has a long experience from mental health services.