The process to recovery is often difficult and stressful for  the addict and their family members. Family members may not understand why the recovering addict is not the same person after treatment. Children who grow up in an environment with substance abuse are often in a state of chaos. A healthy and productive home environment may be something they have never experienced. The active role of adults in their school and community is imperative to their health and well being.

As adults, we have the opportunity to affect the lives of the young people around us. It may mean thanking the young man who bagged your groceries or waving at children on a school bus. Young people want to feel loved, cared for, and contributing members of their communities. This reassurance is something that every young person needs. One way adults can impact the lives of young people is by helping them build developmental assets. Developed by the Search Institute, developmental assets are building blocks for healthy development divided into two categories, internal and external assets.

External assets include support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, and constructive use of time. Internal assets include commitment to learning, positive values, social competencies, and positive identity. Being surrounded by caring adults who take the time to nurture the assets can assist a young person in their ability to understand how to take control of their own health and environment. A message of consistent support will help a young person feel safe and secure especially if these needs are not being met at home during a rather stressful time. Children of parents who suffer from alcohol or drug addiction are four times more likely to develop a substance use disorder than those who were not raised in that environment.¹

Below are a few examples of how you can build developmental assets with young people affected by substance abuse.²

• Model hard work, a good attitude, and respect for others
  
• You can never “overpraise” a child’s abilities
  
• Celebrate honesty
  
• When a young person shares the truth, acknowledge it
  
• Encourage a young person to see the value of good choices
  
• Help a young person understand the differences between things we can control and those that we cannot
  
• Tell a child about a time when you really messed up and then learned from it
  
• Talk to a young person about their future. What are their dreams? What do they envision? Help them put a plan in place to make their dreams a reality.
  

Sources:

¹Dayton, Tian, MA, PhD, TEP. The Set Up: Living With Addiction. The National Association for Children of Alcoholics Web site: http://www.nacoa.net/pdfs/The%20Set%20Up%20for%20Social%20Work%20Curriculum.pdf. Accessed September 10, 2009.

²The developmental asset examples can be referenced at www.search-institute.org