Perceived Social Support among Abstinent Individuals with Substance use disorder

Abstract

Background: Substance use disorder is a major public health concern in India. Understanding social support among persons who were abstaining from substance use would help in promoting long-term abstinence.

Aim: To examine perceived social support among abstinent individuals with substance use disorder.

Methods: Cross-sectional study design was used. Sixty subjects who were attending follow-up service were selected consecutively from out-patient specialty clinic (Addiction Medicine), tertiary care teaching hospital, Bangalore. Persons with SUDs between the age of 18-60 years with minimum abstinence period of three months and above were included. Exploratory analysis such as descriptive statistics, spearmen correlation was used. The study was approved by Institute ethics committee.

Results: Mean age of the respondents was 39.6 (S.D ±9.5) years. Majority (60%) do not have peer pressure, majority (60%) had diagnosis of alcohol dependence and 80% had past history of abstinence, 40% were maintaining abstinence from three to six months. Majority (60%) were never hospitalized. Mean score of perceived social support among persons who were abstaining 90 days and above were 61.48 (±13.50) indicating high perceived social support.

Conclusion: Perceived social support was higher among persons who were abstaining from substance use for three months and above.

Keywords: abstinence; alcohol; drugs; social work treatment.