Early onset of psychoactive substance use and family factors as risk factors for juvenile delinquency in person experiencing opiate addiction

Introduction: Abuse of psychoactive substances by adolescents and juvenile delinquents is a serious health and safety problem. A large number of young people involved in juvenile justice have a problem with psychoactive substances that requires psychiatric treatment.

The aim od study: Goal of this research was to determine the connection between the early onset of psychoactive substances abuse as a risk factor for the development of juvenile delinquency. The second aim was to determine and analyze whether there are differences between groups with and without a history of juvenile delinquency in relation to family factors: marital status and educational level of parents, number of children in the family, existence of psychiatric heredity.

Method and material: The research was conceived as a cross-sectional study, conducted at the Clinic for Psychiatry, University Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Novi Sad. The sample was 200 respondents, persons experiencing opiate addiction, divided into two groups. 100 respondents had a history of juvenile delinquency and 100 of them had no information on juvenile delinquency. Data were collected using a standardized POMPIDOU guide. Variables used were year of first intake, marital status and educational level of parents, number of children in the family, existence of psychiatric heredity in family.

Results: The group of respondents with a history of juvenile delinquency is younger than the group of respondents without a history of juvenile delinquency. In families with a larger number of divorced parents or single-parent families, there is a positive association with juvenile delinquency. In families where the parents have a lower educational status, in families with more than 3 children, and in families where the mothers had mental disorders, there is a positive association with juvenile delinquency. There was no significant statistical connection between the existence of mental disorders in fathers, as well as the existence of psychiatric heredity in siblings or relatives in the family in relation to the occurrence of juvenile delinquency. Conclusion: The research results indicate the necessity of including vulnerable families (family with conflicts, single-parent families) in the family psychotherapy program. It is necessary to appeal to parents in such families that if they have mental disorders, they should seek the help of experts in the field of mental health, in order to influence the prevention of the occurrence of addictive behavior in adolescents, as well as the occurrence of delinquent behavior. The fact that the existence of mental disorders in the mothers of persons experiencing opiate addiction is associated with a higher rate of juvenile delinquency can be interpreted in two ways. First is that in most single-parent families which are often presented as a reality of people connected with psychoactive substances, the mother is the primary caregiver. The second would be the mother’s great role in growing up and forming the individual’s personality, therefore the absence of an adequate mother can explain this connection as relevant.

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