assessing substance abuse questions in …（评估药物滥用问题u2026）.pdf

ASSESSING SUBSTANCEABUSE QUESTIONS IN CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATIONS Claude Schleuderer Vicky Campagna Substanceuse is rampant in contemporary society, but little attention has been paid to it in the context of child cus- tody evaluations (CCEs). This article provides concrete suggestions for integrating issues about substance abuse into a more overarching CCE and discusses specific assessment strategies. Keywords: child custody: substance abuse:parenting: evaluation: drugs; alcohol; toxicology It is an all too well-established fact that substance abuse (drugs and alcohol) is a chronic and pervasive problem today. More than 7 million people older than age 26 have used illicit substances in the past month, and more than 50million have used alcohol (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2002). Parenting obviously can be seriously impaired when a parent abuses substances (Horvath, Logan, Walker, 2002). Additionally, when a parent is undergoing the stresses of a child custody evaluation, pres- sures and tensions invariably increase, thereby adding to the impulse to seek relief in drugs and/or alcohol. For all three reasons-pervasiveness of the problem, potential for impaired parenting, and increased likelihood of excessive use when in a custody battle-evaluators are well advised to routinely assess for substance abuse problems when conducting a child custody evaluation (CCE), even when the issue has not been raised by either parent. The impact of drug and alcohol use has been researched in many contexts. Workplace issues (Lennox, Steele, Zarkin, Bray, 1998;Vasse, Nijhuis, Kok, 1998), educational issues (Bauman Phongsavan, 1999; Zoccolillo, Vitaro, Tremblay, 1999), professional impairment (Brooke, 1997; Good, Thoreson, Shaughnessy, 1995), suicidality (Dube et al.,