Substance abuse among street children in Mumbai

Abstract

Adolescent street boys are a highly mobile population and difficult to reach. They are recognized to be vulnerable to substance, physical and sexual abuse. Our objective was to conduct a study among adolescent street boys of Mumbai City to assess substance, physical and sexual abuse and the factors associated with them. Most of the studies on adolescent street boys were conducted either in observation homes or via surveys, but we have adopted a unique approach in which a cross-sectional study was conducted in a 3-day ‘Diwali Festival Mela’, an annual celebration when these adolescent street boys come from almost all areas of Mumbai City in large numbers. During this period they are relaxed and provide confidential information in privacy; the response rate was 83.5%. Of 163 street boys, 132 (80.98%) were substance abusers; 52 (31.9%) had been sexually abused and 87 (53.3%) had been physically abused. The most common reasons for substance abuse or the perceived functions of substance use mentioned by participants were peer pressure (62.1%), experimentation (36.3%) or to boost self-confidence (28.7%). Almost three-quarters (70 %) of all substance users wanted to quit and about 40% had tried to quit. A multiple logistic regression statistical method was used in which increasing age, family pathology, substance abuse among peers and those who were living ‘only on-street’ were at a greater risk of substance abuse (P < 0.05), while concerning sexual abuse the above factors were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Those adolescent street boys with family pathology were at more risk of physical abuse, with a statistical significance of P < 0.05. This study will help in the intervention and evaluation of programmes intended for a most elusive population at extreme risk for various abuses and its adverse consequences.