--- title: More Than 321,000 U.S. Kids Lost Parent to Drug Overdose description: A new study estimates that 321,000 children lost a parent to drug overdose over a decade, with people of color disproportionately affected. canonical: https://time.com/6976185/children-lost-parent-overdose-study/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-05-08T23:27:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:35:28.031Z article:section: Health og:title: Over 321,000 U.S. Kids Lost Parent to Drug Overdose og:description: Children of American Indian or Alaska Native parents experienced the highest rates of loss, the study found. og:url: https://time.com/6976185/children-lost-parent-overdose-study/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3abab82ac991cf9e/698a56920116822778985c40/Drug-Overdose-Study.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Macro of oxycodone opioid tablets with prescription bottles against dark background og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Over 321,000 U.S. Kids Lost Parent to Drug Overdose twitter:description: Children of American Indian or Alaska Native parents experienced the highest rates of loss, the study found. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3abab82ac991cf9e/698a56920116822778985c40/Drug-Overdose-Study.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Over 321,000 Children in the U.S. Lost a Parent to Drug Overdose, Study Finds by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter May 8, 2024 11:27 PM UTC  Oxycodone is the generic name for a range of opoid pain killing tablets. Prescription bottle for Oxycodone tablets and pills on glass table with reflections Oxycodone is the generic name for a range of opoid pain killing tablets. Prescription bottle for Oxycodone tablets and pills on glass table with reflectionsGetty Images by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter May 8, 2024 11:27 PM UTC More than 321,000 children in the U.S. lost a parent to a drug overdose from 2011 to 2021, an alarming figure that shows the nation’s obligation to “comprehensively address the needs of individuals, families and communities” when tackling the growing [overdose crisis](https://time.com/6214811/overdose-deaths-opioid-prescriptions/), experts say. A new study published Wednesday in the medical journal [_JAMA Psychiatry_](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2818228) found that the rate of children who lost a parent to an overdose more than doubled in that decade span, jumping from 27 to 63 children per 100,000\. In total, the study estimates that 321,566 children in the U.S. lost a parent to a drug overdose in that time span. And while the rates of loss increased consistently each year across all demographics examined in the study, people of color were disproportionately affected by this trend. The highest number of deaths were among white parents, but children of American Indian or Alaska Native parents experienced the highest rates of loss, the study found. Children with young Black parents between the ages of 18 and 25 experienced the highest increase in the rate of loss each year. The study was conducted by researchers from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Nearly 650,000 people between the ages of 18 and 64 died of a drug overdose from 2011 to 2021, but this was the first national study to estimate the number of children who lost a parent in that span, according to a press release about the study from the [National Institutes of Health (NIH)](https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/more-321000-us-children-lost-parent-drug-overdose-2011-2021). Researchers used data from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health and the CDC National Vital Statistics System to conduct the study. “It is devastating to see that almost half of the people who died of a drug overdose had a child,” Nora Volkow, the director of NIDA, said in the press release. “No family should lose their loved one to an overdose, and each of these deaths represents a tragic loss that could have been prevented.” Researchers said that the study highlighted the need for holistic health care to treat people who struggle with substance abuse and the importance of providing prevention resources to help families break generational cycles of [substance abuse](https://time.com/6269011/fentanyl-overdose-unique-challenges/). “These data illustrate that not only are communities of color experiencing overdose death disparities, but also underscore the need for responses to the overdose crisis moving forward to comprehensively address the needs of individuals, families and communities,” Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, the leader of SAMHSA, said in the NIH’s press release. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6976185/children-lost-parent-overdose-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6976185/children-lost-parent-overdose-study/"},"headline":"Over 321,000 Children in the U.S. Lost a Parent to Drug Overdose, Study Finds","datePublished":"2024-05-08T23:27:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:35:28.031Z","description":"The alarming figure shows the dire need to “comprehensively address the needs of individuals, families and communities” when tackling the growing overdose crisis, experts say.","url":"https://time.com/6976185/children-lost-parent-overdose-study/","keywords":["Addiction","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3abab82ac991cf9e/698a56920116822778985c40/Drug-Overdose-Study.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chantelle Lee","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3abab82ac991cf9e/698a56920116822778985c40/Drug-Overdose-Study.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Macro of oxycodone opioid tablets with prescription bottles against dark background","caption":"Macro of oxycodone opioid tablets with prescription bottles against dark background","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/addiction/","name":"Addiction"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6976185/children-lost-parent-overdose-study/","name":"Over 321,000 Children in the U.S. Lost a Parent to Drug Overdose, Study Finds"}}]}] ```