Abstract
Drug abuse among in-school adolescents is a problem which the government of Nigeria and indeed some other countries are yet to find a lasting solution to. Drug abuse among school children can disrupt the smooth running of teaching and learning in school. One of the ways of solving the problem is by trying to find out what leads in-school adolescents into the act. The objectives of this study were to examine the predisposing factors to drug abuse among in-school adolescents in Kwara State and to examine the influence of the variables of gender, age, religion and level of study on the respondents’ response on the predisposing factors. A descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study comprised of the adolescents in secondary school and university. A sample of 403 students were selected through a multistage sampling procedure in order to participate in the study. Data was collected via a questionnaire titled ‘Predisposing Factors to Drug Abuse (PFDA)’. The questionnaire was validated by experts in test and measurement design. It has a reliability coefficient of 0.68 which adjudged the instrument to be reliable. Data was analysed with mean, rank order, t-test and analysis of variance. Hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings showed that the factors that predispose in-school adolescents to drug abuse were: peer influence, depression, lack of good parental care, low self-esteem, poor academic performance, among other factors. Findings further revealed that age, gender, religion and level of education did not make the respondents differ in their responses on the predisposing factors to drug abuse among in-school adolescents. It is recommended that counsellors, parents and stake holders in education should initiate a serious campaign regarding sensitization against drug abuse. It is also recommended that academic programs should be learner-centred.
Highlights
Drug abuse is a problem that continues to draw the attention of Nigeria and the general public
Ho4: There is no significant difference in the predisposing factors to drug abuse among inschool adolescents in Ilorin, Kwara State on the basis of level of education
The findings from the research questions showed that the predisposing factors to drug abuse among in-school adolescents are: peer influence, depression, lack of good parental care, low self-esteem, desire to feel high, poor academic performance, easy accessibility to drugs, ignorance of the consequence, and lack of punishment to offenders among other factors
Summary
Drug abuse is a problem that continues to draw the attention of Nigeria and the general public. Escandon and Galvez (2006) stated that drugs, when taken, alter the psychological and biological functioning of the body. Okoye (2001) defined a drug as a substance that can affect and change the biological functioning of the body through its chemical actions.
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