How People with Opioid Use Disorder Communicatively Experience Family: A Family Systems Approach

ABSTRACT In the United States (U.S.), 130 people die every day from an opioid overdose, and family is an influential factor in people’s experience of opioid use disorder (OUD). Although a growing body of research examines the communication of families affected by substance use, little research considers the impact of addiction on family relationships from the perspective of people with a substance use disorder. Guided by family systems theory (FST), this study investigated people with OUD’s perceptions of how addiction shapes, and is shaped by, family communication. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 41 individuals with OUD. Five characteristics of FST illuminated how people with OUD communicatively experience family: patterns/rules, feedback, openness, interdependence, and equifinality. Systems components revealed how dynamic and ongoing patterns of communication in the family present opportunities and challenges for recovery. Implications for FST and communication about substance use are discussed.