More than 321,000 children in the U.S. lost a parent to overdose in just 10 years, study finds

More than 320,000 children in the United States lost a parent to a drug overdose from 2011 to 2021, a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found. 

No national study had previously looked at the amount of children affected by the overdose crisis, according to a news release announcing the findings. Study co-author Dr. Emily Einstein, the chief of NIDA's Science Policy Branch, said the study was inspired by similar research during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

During the decade studied, 649,599 people aged 18 to 64 died of a drug overdose. Children were more likely to lose their fathers than their mothers, the study found.