Does substance use by family members and community affect the substance use among adolescent boys? Evidence from UDAYA study, India

BACKGROUND: Substance use among adolescents is risky behavior that had emerged as a concern in both developed and developing countries. Evidence revealed that substance use is more frequent among those adolescents whose immediate family members (parents, siblings and grandparents) also indulge in such consumption; however, scarce literature is present in the Indian context. Therefore, the present study examined whether substance use among family members and in the community is associated with the substance use behavior of adolescent boys in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. METHOD: We used the data for 5969 adolescent boys aged 10-19 years from the Understanding the Lives of Adolescents and Young Adults (UDAYA) survey conducted in 2016. A three-level random intercept logit model was utilized to understand the association of adolescent substance use behavior with familial and community context. RESULTS: We found that 16% of adolescent boys were using any substance (tobacco or alcohol or drug). The substance use was significantly higher among adolescent boys who were school dropouts (40%) than those who were currently in school. The prevalence of substance use is also high among those who were working (35%). Moreover, 19, 24 and 28% of the adolescents come from families where at least one of the family members consumed tobacco, alcohol and drugs, respectively. The odds of substance use were 2.13 times CI:1.44-3.17 higher among those adolescent boys whose family members also indulged in substance use. Moreover, the likelihood of substance use was 1.24 times CI:1.01-1.68 higher among the adolescent boys who come from a community with high substance use. Additionally, the risk of substance use is more likely among adolescent boys belonging to the same household of the same community. CONCLUSION: It is evident that exposure to substance use in the family and community increases the likelihood of substance use among adolescent boys. There is a need for household- and community-level programmatic interventions to alleviate the risk of substance use among adolescents.