Impact of familial risk factors on the severity of addiction in a sample of Egyptian adolescents

Abstract

Background The 20th century ended with the conviction that drug abuse was a global problem, and thus global solutions were required. Adolescence represents a critical time to prevent alcohol and other drug use. Early initiation and regular use is often associated with negative consequences. Research on adolescents focuses increasingly on features of the family in predicting and preventing substance use, such as parenting style, parental monitoring, and parental substance use. Although there is an increasingly alarming phenomenon of drug abuse demonstrated in the Egyptian community, there has been no study that estimated the prevalence and risk factors of substance abuse in adolescents in Egypt recently. Aim of the work The current study aimed at exploring the effect of various familial risk factors on the development and severity of substance use in adolescent Egyptians. Participants and methods The current study included two groups: the patient group, which included 100 adolescents (92 male and eight female) from Mansoura, Egypt, between 10 and 19 years of age who were diagnosed as being substance abusers or substance dependants according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria; and the control group, which included 100 (86 male and 14 female) age and sex matched participants with no current psychiatric or neurological disorders. Tools of assessment used were as follows: Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for children and adolescents (MINI KID), the Teen Addiction Severity Index (T-ASI) scale, and a scale for measuring family socioeconomic status for health research in Egypt. Familial assessment was carried out with Parental Monitoring Questionnaire and parenting style questionnaire. Results The incidence of substance use was higher in male (92%) than in female (8%) adolescents. The most commonly abused substances were tramadol (97%), followed by cannabis (94%) and sedatives and hypnotics (38%), and the least commonly abused substance was anticholinergic (12%). The majority of the studied addicts were abusing more than one drug (92%). The results of the study indicated a highly significant difference between substance users and controls on all familial risk variables. Conclusion The substance use disorders are a major health problem among youth, and it is more prevalent in male sex in Egyptian population. Tramadol dependency is at the top of all substances abused in Egypt, followed by polysubstances. The findings highlight how family influences subsequent adolescent substance use.