Abstract

The prime objective of the study was to examine the aggression and its types among wives of poly drug addicts and non-drug addicts in comparison to each other. That comparative study was done in Faisalabad city and, for that purpose, total hundred women including fifty  (n = 50) wives of poly drug addicts were selected from drug treatment hospitals using convenient sampling. While fifty (n= 50) wives of non-drug addicts were selected using snowball sampling from general population. Personal Information Sheet and Urdu version of Aggression Questionnaire (Shafique & Sadiq, 2019) were applied on participants to collect the data. SPSS version 25.0 was used to compute the descriptive statistics, normality test,  independent samples t-test and regression analysis on the present research data. Statistical analysis has depicted that wives of ploy drug addicts reported more aggression (t = 16.34,  df =  98 , p = 0.000), physical aggression (t = 14.88 , df = 98, p = 0.000), verbal aggression (t = 6.53 , df = 98 , p =0.000), anger (t = 10.44 , df = 98, p =0.000) and hostility (t = 13.22, df = 98, p = 0.000) than wives of non-drug addicts. Furthermore, duration of husbands’ addiction and number of treatment predicted aggression in wives. Poly drug addiction of husband adversely harms the psychological health of wives and escalates aggressive feelings and emotions in wives.

Key Words

Ploy Drug Addiction, Aggression, Physical Aggression, Verbal Anger, hostility

Introduction

Drug abuse or addiction has destroyed thousands of lives and harmed the society psychologically, socially and economically as well. And now, this malady has emerged as a social crisis throughout the world (Najar et al., 2017). People of diverse groups are addicted to various forms of drugs. People with ploy drug use problems are habitual of using multiple drugs at once to have desired effects. 

 However, drug addiction, irrespective of its type, resulted in significant damages to life (Macleod et al., 2004) such as: lack of family responsibilities and duties (children (Kahrazee et al., 2018). Drug addiction  badly influences the person own self, his or her family and society as well (Senthil &  Kiran, 2016). Researches documented the strong relation of substance abuse with psychiatric disorders (Statham et al., 2011). Within family, parents, spouse and children are adversely affected by drug or substance abuse (Copello & Velleman, 2005), as a result, they developed various psychological issues such as: anger, frustration, anxiousness, worry, depression and feeling of shame and guilt (Choudhary, 2016). Females of drug addicts suffered from co-dependency, anger, depression, blaming and denying as well (Sharma, 2009).

 Though, women in Pakistan, physically, psychological and socially dependent on their men, for this reason, drug abuse problems in their men directly influence them in variety of settings. Researches also proved that women of drug addicted husbands experienced more emotional and behavioral problems included extramarital relation, anxiety, insomnia, aggression and poor quality of life (Najafi, 2005). In a study, families of drug addicts reported significant stress, psychological distress and as well as low self-esteem (Lee et al., 2011). Anxiety, depression, anger, social dysfunction and hostility were also observed among wives of substance users (Ali & Sadiq, 2011). Wives of drug abusers experienced irritability, weight loss, aches, chronic cough, anxiety and depression (Mehra, 2002).

It is doubtless that the life of a woman becomes quite challenging and considered as miserable due to husband’s addiction to drugs. As mentioned earlier that drug addiction destroys entire family and probably wives are the real victim of their husband’s addiction. When their emotional, financial and love needs are in jeopardy, they experience frustration and other kinds of psychological problems. Their psychological health is always at risk due to husband’s addiction and associated repercussions. The present study attempted to bring the psychological problems, specifically aggression, on the surface that wives of drug/ploy drug addicts are likely to experience. Aggression in different forms is deleterious for physical, social and spiritual well-being of an individual. With aggressive feelings and tendencies, wives cannot properly functions in different domains of life as they are supposed to do. For this reason, addressing the negative influence of drug addiction on women’ health is essential so that proper management plan could be devised to make them functional at personal and social level. Hence, it has been assumed that:

Wives of poly drug addicts will significantly report more aggression (i.e, physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger and hostility) as compared to wives of non-drug addicts.

Methodology

For present study, fifty (n = 50) wives of patients diagnosed with poly drug addiction were conveniently selected from drug treatment hospitals situated in Faisalabad.  Another group of fifty (n = 50) wives of non-drug addicts were selected from general population employing snowballs sampling strategy. Ages of all participants ranged from 21 to 50 years (M= 33.99; SD = 8.34). Women with chronic disease/disability, mothers of special children and whose husbands were living abroad (for comparative group) were not the part of study. 

Demographic Information Form and Urdu version of Aggression Questionnaire (Buss and Perry, 1992) were used for data collection. It has four subscales and total 29 items which have been allocated to the subscales of Physical Aggression (9 items), Verbal Aggression (5 –items), Anger (7- items) and Hostility (8-items) which are scored on 5 points of continuum. Reported reliability ranges of English version of AQ are 0.72 to 0.80, and of subscales are 0.72 to 0.85. Full scale reliability of its Urdu version is 0.92 and of subscales ranged 0.65 to 0.90 (Shafique & Sadiq, 2019).

For data collection, administration of drug treatment hospitals of Faisalabad was approached. Having consent from administration, meetings with the wives of patients, who were registered with the diagnosis of poly drug addiction, were held. Then, consent was also taken from the wives who were actual participants of the present study. Briefing was giving concerning present research objectives and procedures. Demographic Information Form and Aggression Questionnaire were filled out by them.  In the same way, data was collected from the wives of non-drug addicts (normal adults) were collected at their own residency. All responses were thoroughly checked and then scored as per instructions. Descriptive statistics and independent samples t-test were computed with SPSS Version, 25.0.

Results

Table 1. Summary of Descriptive Statistics Related to the Personal Information (n =100)

Characteristics	Wives of poly drug addicts (n= 50 )		Wives of non-drug addicts (n= 50)
Age ranges	f	%	f	%
21-30	27	54	17	34
31-40	12	24	23	46
41-50	11	22	10	20
Educational level
Matric	32	64	16	32
Intermediate	10	20	18	36
Graduation	5	10	11	22
Masters	3	6	5	10
Duration of marriage
1-5	22	44	20	40
6-10	26	52	26	52
>10	2	4	4	8
Family System
Nuclear	16	32	39	78
Joint	34	68	11	22
Duration of husband’s drug addiction
1-5 Years	23	46	X	X
5-10 Years	19	38	X	X
>10 Years	8	16	X	X
Attitude towards wife/family
Quarreling	31	44	X	X
Abusing language	17	34	X	X
Snatching money	21	42	X	X
Beating	9	18	X	X
Stealing	19	38	X	X

 

Table 2. Summary of Shapiro-Wilk Normality Test

	Wives of poly drug addicts		Wives of non-drug addicts
Variables	Statistics	p	Statistics	p
Physical Aggression	.95	.033	.95	.075
Verbal  Aggression	.93	.009	.92	.005
Anger	.97	.251	.90	.001
Hostility	.94	.029	.95	.074
Aggression	.97	.336	.93	.012

 




Summary of Shapiro-Wilk normality test (Table:2) has indicated the normal distribution of data received from both groups on some of the variables. Data collected from the wives of poly drug addicts were found normally distributed in relation to anger and aggression, while data collected from the wives of non-drug addicts were normally distributed in relation to physical Aggression and hostility.




 

Table 3. Summary of Independent Samples T-test Showing Difference among Groups on the Variable of Aggression and its Components

Variables	Groups
	Wives of poly drug addicts (n = 50)		Wives of non-drug addicts (n = 50)
	M	SD	M	SD	df	t	p-value	Cohen d
Physical aggression	33.74	4.33	20.56	4.52	98	14.88	.000	2.97
Verbal Aggression	16.18	3.64	11.78	3.06		6.53	.000	1.30
Anger	25.70	4.17	16.76	4.38		10.44	.000	2.09
Hostility	28.32	2.90	18.08	4.64		13.22	.000	2.64
Aggression	103.94	9.45	67.18	12.78		16.34	.000	3.27

 




Results of the present study indicated that wives of poly drug addicts reported more aggression (t = 16.34,  df =  98 , p = 0.000, d = 3.27), physical aggression (t = 14.88 , df = 98, p = 0.000, d = 2.64), verbal aggression (t = 6.53 , df =  98 , p = 0.000, d = 2.09), anger (t = 10.44 , df = 98, p =  0.000, d = 2.09) and hostility (t = 13.22, df = 98, p = 0.000) than wives of non-drug addicts.




 

Table 4. Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis

Predictors	?R2	B	SE	?	t	p
Duration of husbands’ drug addiction	.06	.66	9.12	.29	2.14	.037
No. of treatment	.43	2.48	7.11	.66	6.21	.000

 




Dependent Variable: Aggression

The analysis (Table: 4) revealed duration of husbands’ addiction (? =0.29, t (48) = 2.14, p =0.37)  and number of treatment received (? =0.66, t (48 ) = 6.21, p=.000 ) as significant predictors of aggression in their wives. 

Discussion

Consequences of drug addiction are unlimited and severe especially for wives and children of addicts. It also has been noted in the current study that wives of poly drug addicts were exhibiting aggression, physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger and hostility in comparison to wives of non-drug addicts (Table: 3). In Asian countries, when two person tie the knot, they are supposed to fulfill their responsibilities, for example, men are considered bread earner while women are bound to pay household responsibilities. When men do not fulfill the financial needs and expenses, their women considered own self as misfortune as in Asian cultures women have expectations from their husbands. Due to under gratification of their basic needs, they internally feel unhappy and frustrated that eventually leads to numerous psychological issues. Drug addict’s patterns and life style create tension in the family and resultantly family members suffer from anxiety and depression (Mancheri et al., 2013).

Women are relationship oriented and their psychological well-being is determined by quality of relations. Marital satisfaction significantly predicted the mental health of women (Shaheen, Moosa & Kumar, 2022). In this connection, it can be argued that when women perceive their husbands irresponsible, dysfunctional and problematic who are unable to meet even their emotional needs, they harbor negative feelings, helplessness and frustration which are reflected in the form of aggression as was seen in the current study. Wives though are sensitive regarding their interpersonal relationship, become negative and curse their life, in case of being unsatisfied in marital relations. Resultantly, they express more anger and hostility than wives of non-drug addicts as depicted by the present research findings (Table:3). 

Wives of drug addicts have double burden of responsibilities (Noori et al., 2015). Moreover, society and close relatives want them to be in the relation at the expense of own needs. The status of good wife and mother is judged by how much she is caring, loving and supportive toward husband and children. She tries to camouflage her real negative feelings and emotions but they are unconsciously exhibited physically and as well as verbally towards self and others.  For this reason, wives of poly drug addicts seemed to be expressing more aggression in various forms as compared to wives of non-drug addicts as the present findings revealed. 

Additional factors such as: duration of husbands’ addiction and the number of treatment received to be get rid of addiction seemed to blow aggressive tendencies among wives. With the passage of time, wives got exhausted and their frustration was converted into full blown aggression. Moreover, associated repercussions like quarrelling, stealing and abusive behavior might have contributed to their psychological problems they reported during the study.

Conclusion

Wives of drug or poly drug addiction are at risk of physical, psychological and social harm. They develop aggression due to husband’s indulgence in addiction that almost affects all life strands. Wives, seeing their life in a fix, get mentally disturbed to the extent that they could not understand how to express their negative feelings and emotions in socially appropriate way. Their decline in interpersonal communication can be seen in form of physical/verbal aggression, anger and hostility as the consequence of husband’s addiction to drugs.

Implications of the Study

The present findings make government, non-governmental organization, health professionals and community aware of the dire consequences of drug/poly drug addictions for women, especially wives of drug addicts. These findings highlighted the importance of developing and implementing a separate treatment model for family members of drug addicts in order to prevent further psychological and social harm.

Limitation and Recommendations

Although the sample size was computed via G-Power Software with large effect size but seemed small that limited the benefits of present study for scientific and general audience. Association of demographics with aggression in women was not tested. Future researchers must explore the influences of demographics on emotional and behavioral health in the connection of drug addiction. Other kinds of psychological consequences of drug addiction for females must also be investigated.

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