Abstract
This study examined the three crucial areas of parental absenteeism (physical, emotional and economic), and the impact of these types of absenteeism on the use of mind-altering substances during the formative years of 50 respondents, who were selected using a nonrandom, purposive sampling method. The 50 respondents, who were, at the time of distribution, receiving substance abuse treatment from two local residential treatment facilities, consisted of 25 males and 25 females. Data was collected using an 18-question survey, which addressed topics that pertained to the participant's family composition and substance use history as an adolescent. The study's findings indicate that male respondents began using mind-altering substances at a younger age than females, and that youth who lack physical and/or emotional attachment from their primary caregivers are at a greater risk of substance abuse problems. However, according to the study's findings, economic absence of neither the mother nor the father seemed to be a significant reason for adolescents to use mind-altering substances. Michael Buck and Meghan Burke worked conjointly on this retrospective, descriptive study. Both authors worked equally on identification of the problem, formulation of the research problem, converting the problem into a researchable question, selecting the research design, development and approval, of the Human Subjects application including the creation of the consent form and the data collection Instrument, collecting the data, data entry, data analysis, interpretation of the analysis, and summarization of the findings.