Depression and Perceived Attachment of Adolescents with Fathers with Substance-Use Disorder

This study was conducted to understand the predictive role of perceived mother, father and peer attachment in depressive symptoms of adolescents living with fathers diagnosed with substance use disorder. The quantitative study was conducted at various drug rehabilitation centres in Karachi from January 2016 to September 2017, and comprised adolescents living with fathers diagnosed with substance use disorder. Of the 150 participants, 82 (55%) were males and 68 (45%) were females. The overall mean age was 13.44±1.50 years. Perceived attachment with mother, father and peers collectively contributed significant variance in the depressive symptoms of the subjects (p=0.0001). Independently, only perceived mother and father attachment played a significant role in such symptoms with highest prediction value observed on father attachment (p<0.05). Perceived mother and father attachment were found to be significant predictors of depressive symptoms among adolescents living with paternal substance use disorder. Peer attachment was significantly linked to the symptoms, but did not have a definite predictive role.