ASSESSMENT OF FAMILY FUNCTIONING AND PARENTING STYLES IN ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE USE- A CROSS-SECTIONAL COMPARATIVE STUDY

INTRODUCTION: The role of the family in the context of substance use among adolescents has been documented both as a risk and protective factor. However, Indian studies on parenting and family dynamics in adolescent substance use are limited. This is despite the difference between Western and Indian family systems, that emphasise collectivism and interdependence with limited individualism and autonomy. Our study aimed to assess family functioning and parenting practices in adolescents who used substances and to compare them with families of healthy adolescents. METHODOLOGY: This study employed a cross-sectional, comparative design. Forty adolescent-parent dyads were selected from adolescents registered for substance use treatment and compared with 40 healthy adolescent-parent dyads of matching age and socio-economic status Both adolescents and parents were screened for symptoms of psychiatric illnesses and detailed assessment was done by applying the following instruments: Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis (ADAD), Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ), Family Assessment Device (FAD) and Parenting Style 4 factor questionnaire. RESULTS: Both groups had mostly nuclear families of upper-lower socio-economic status. Adolescents who used substances perceived a significantly poor functioning in their families in terms of problem solving, communication, roles, affective responsiveness, affective involvement, behavioral control and general functioning along with lower parental involvement, lesser positive parenting, poorer monitoring and greater inconsistency in discipline. Significantly greater number of parents of healthy adolescents were authoritative as compared to substance users, who were more permissive and neglectful. Substance use severity had a significant positive correlation with dysfunction in role-setting, affective involvement and general family functioning and negative correlation with positive parenting. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that several domains of parenting and family functioning bear significant effect on substance use in adolescents, and further in-depth research is required from similar family systems in order to call for inclusivity and trans-cultural applicability for existing family interventions.