Tragantzopoulou Panagiota, Rizou Eleni
School of Social Sciences, University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish St., London W1W 6UW, UK.
Department of Applied Psychology, University of Derby, Kedleston Rd., Derby DE22 1GB, UK.
Nurs Rep. 2025 Aug 20;15(8):306. doi: 10.3390/nursrep15080306.
Parents of individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) often carry significant emotional and relational burdens, yet their voices remain underrepresented in addiction research. This study explores how Greek parents navigate the long-term challenges of caring for adult children with SUDs, with a focus on emotional strain, caregiving identity, and culturally embedded coping strategies within a collectivist context. Eight Greek parents (six mothers and two fathers, aged 47-60) participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Conversations were conducted either in person or via video call, depending on participant preference and geographical constraints. Data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore lived experience and the meaning-making processes shaping parental coping over time. : Four overarching themes were identified as follows: (1) Living in Vigilance, reflecting constant hyper-alertness, emotional exhaustion, and social withdrawal rooted in trauma; (2) Shifting Parental Identity, capturing the evolution of parents into caregivers, advocates, and informal caseworkers amid systemic neglect; (3) Struggling Within Systems, highlighting exclusion, blame, and fragmentation in institutional care-with moments of empathy holding outsized emotional weight; and (4) Coping as Cultural Duty, showing how caregiving was sustained through values of sacrifice, loyalty, and protective silence, even at great personal cost. Greek parents supporting adult children with SUDs face a complex interplay of trauma, cultural obligation, and institutional strain. Their coping is shaped by deeply held familial values rather than access to effective support. The findings call for culturally attuned, family-inclusive interventions and further research into long-term caregiving across diverse contexts.
患有物质使用障碍（SUDs）的人的父母往往背负着巨大的情感和人际关系负担，但他们的声音在成瘾研究中仍然没有得到充分体现。本研究探讨了希腊父母如何应对照顾患有SUDs的成年子女的长期挑战，重点关注情感压力、照顾者身份以及集体主义背景下文化嵌入的应对策略。八位希腊父母（六位母亲和两位父亲，年龄在47至60岁之间）参与了深入的半结构化访谈。根据参与者的偏好和地理限制，访谈通过面对面或视频通话进行。使用解释性现象学分析（IPA）对数据进行分析，以探索生活经历以及随着时间推移塑造父母应对方式的意义构建过程。确定了四个总体主题如下：（1）生活在警惕中，反映出源于创伤的心旷神怡、情感疲惫和社交退缩；（2）父母身份的转变，体现了父母在系统性忽视中演变成照顾者、倡导者和非正式个案工作者的过程；（3）在系统中挣扎，突出了机构护理中的排斥、指责和碎片化——共情时刻具有巨大的情感分量；（4）作为文化责任的应对，展示了即使付出巨大个人代价，如何通过牺牲、忠诚和保护性沉默的价值观来维持照顾。支持患有SUDs的成年子女的希腊父母面临着创伤、文化义务和机构压力的复杂相互作用。他们的应对方式受到根深蒂固的家庭价值观的影响，而不是获得有效支持的影响。研究结果呼吁采取文化协调、家庭包容的干预措施，并对不同背景下的长期护理进行进一步研究。
