TUESDAY, May 13, 2025 (HealthDay News) — In 2023, nearly 19 million children in the United States were estimated to be living in a household with at least one parent or primary caregiver with a substance use disorder (SUD), according to a research letter published online May 12 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Sean Esteban McCabe, Ph.D., from the University of Michigan School of Nursing in Ann Arbor, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study using nationally representative data from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health for noninstitutionalized individuals aged 12 years and older to estimate the number of U.S. children living in the same household as at least one parent or primary caregiver with an SUD.

The researchers found that an estimated 18,968,894 children lived with at least one parent meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition)-SUD criteria, including children with a parent with moderate or severe SUD or multiple SUDs (7,643,244 and 3,409,675, respectively). Overall, an estimated 6,148,289 children lived with a parent with comorbid SUD and mental illness. Parental SUDs were primarily alcohol use disorder, followed by cannabis, prescription-related, and noncannabis drug use disorders.

“These findings signal the need for more attention at the federal, state, and local levels on the children and families affected by addiction,” the authors write. “Evidence-based, family-based treatments for SUD and mental illness can prevent adverse health consequences in this population.”

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