THEY LOVE ME BUT THEY HAVE TO PUT THAT DRUG FIRST: A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY AMONG CHILDREN OF SUBSTANCE ADDICTS

Objective: One of the major objective of this study was to investigate and determined the prevalence rate as well as the gender differences with respect to anxiety and depression among those children whose parents were involved in different types of drug dependences. The data has been collected from Peshawar Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. Method: To achieve the desired goal a total sample of two hundred and eighty subjects were taken from different welfare institutes, homes and hospitals of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (N=280), including one hundred and fourty subjects were children of non-drug addicts (n1-140) and remaining one hundred and fourty subjects were children of drug addicts (n2=140). For data collection two scales Depression Anxiety Stress scale (DASS) developed by Lovibond & Lovibond in 1995 14 and Revised Children Manifest Anxiety Scale2 (RCMAS-2) were administered. 26 Results: Obtained results showed significant differences between subjects of the two subgroups (n1 and n2) with respect to gender, anxiety and depression hence confirming the hypotheses. By evaluating the results of this study it has been revealed that parental drug dependence can have deteriorating psychological effects on their children and can cast damaging effects on different areas of their lives. Conclusion: This study revealed that parental substance or drug addiction is one of the leading cause of depression and anxiety in their children.