Parenting Styles and Psychological Correlates in a Sample of Egyptian Adolescents With Substance-use Disorders

Abstract

Objectives: To study parenting styles and psychological correlates among a group of Egyptian adolescents with substance-use disorder. Materials and Methods: A case-control study conducted at the Adolescents’ substance abuse outpatient clinic, Helwan Psychiatric Hospital. The case group of 81 male adolescents, age range 12 to 18 years, with substance-use disorders matched with the control group of 80 volunteer male adolescents who had never used drugs. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and the Questionnaire of Parental Attitudes as Realized by Adolescents were applied on members of both groups. Results: The case group had a higher positive family history of psychiatric illness and drug abuse (P=0.006, <0.001). Mothers of patients in the case group showed higher independent parenting (P=0.039) and consistency (P=0.02), whereas their fathers showed significant rejection (P<0.001). Cases had higher psychoticism and neuroticism (P<0.001, 0.001). Significantly more patients in the case group met the criteria of major depression, and conduct, oppositional defiant, psychotic, and mood disorders with psychotic features. Also, there was a significantly higher suicidality risk (P<0.001) among patients in the case group. Conclusions: Adolescents with substance-use disorder had a more significant family history of psychiatric illness and substance abuse. Their mothers unexpectedly adopted a more consistent and independent parental style, whereas fathers were more rejecting and had an overall negative parental style. Adolescents in the case group had significantly higher psychoticism and neuroticism. Moreover, they met the criteria of major depressive disorder, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, lifetime psychotic disorders, and mood disorder with psychotic features significantly more than the adolescents in the control group.