Children as relatives of guardians with substance abuse

The purpose of this study was to investigate how children as relatives are affected by having guardians with substance abuse problems and what efforts and resources are available to promote children’s living conditions. We chose to do this study based on two issues where issue one was done with an international perspective and where the other perspective was done with a national. The method used in this study was a combination of systematic and general literature study with a qualitative focus. The results of the work showed that children as relatives are affected differently by guardians' substance abuse problems. The protection and risk factors that appear in the result looks different, which is based on, among other things, the child’s resilience. Resources and initiatives that promote the child's living conditions are partly support groups but also coordinated initiatives from both the social services and other activities in the child’s immediate environment. With this study, we can conclude that children as relatives are a vulnerable group who are in need of support and help to maintain a reasonable standard of living. In order to promote children’s living conditions, efforts can be made to both children and guardians.