Gayatri Bhatia
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Neuro Neurophysiol
Adolescent substance use is a global public health concern. Family has protective, predictive as well as prognostic roles in adolescent substance use. However, such evidence is lacking from South East Asian Countries where family systems are more traditional, collectivistic and inter-dependent. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of family functioning on substance use among adolescents. Eighty adolescent-parent dyads were included in this crosssectional comparative study. Forty adolescents registered with an addiction treatment clinic were included in group A and compared on socio-demographic details and domains of family functioning with 40 healthy adolescents (Group B) with matched age and socio-economic status. Group A adolescents perceived greater dysfunction in the domains of problem solving, communication, roles, affective involvement, behaviour control and general functioning as compared to group B adolescents. They also reported greater problems in their family in the domains of problem solving, communication, affective involvement, behaviour control and general functioning as compared to their parents. There are significant differences in family functioning perceived by adolescents who use substances as compared to those who do not. Larger studies are needed to examine specific risk and protective family factors in the context of substance use among adolescents raised in a traditional, conservative and collectivistic family environment.
Gayatri Bhatia completed her MD in Psychiatry in 2018 and her superspecialization in Addiction psychiatry from the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. After a brief stint at the National AIDS Control Organization as Technical Expert for harm reduction, she is currently working as Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rajkot, India. Winner of 11 international and 3 national awards, author of 50+ published papers and contributor to 5 national treatment guidelines and prevention policies for substance use disorders, she holds a special interest in women and adolescents with substance use disorders, harm reduction along with legal and policy aspects of substance use disorders. She advocates actively for promotion of mental well-being in the face of rapid scientific and industrial advancements, environmental and cultural changes.
