PERCEIVED DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS AS DETERMINANTS OF DRUG ABUSE AMONG ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

The study investigated demographic factors as determinants of drug
abuse among secondary school students in Ogun State, Nigeria. A
descriptive survey research design of ex-post type was adopted.
Participants for the study were five-hundred (500) adolescent students
randomly drawn from JSS 1- SSS1 students in five (5) secondary schools
located in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State,
Nigeria. Their ages ranged between 10-17 years with a mean of 16.4
years. A self constructed questionnaire tagged Demographic Drug
Abuse Scale (ADDAS) (r = .076) was employed to collect data for the
study. Two research hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of
significance. Data were analysed using the Multiple Regression. The
results revealed that age and gender were found to predict adolescent
drug abuse, while education level does not. The paper concludes that
school adolescents who become drug abusers are more likely to live in a
social context that makes drug use easier. Recommendations were
made for peer counselling and health education as part of the
curriculum of secondary school education.