Predictors of Psychoactive Drug Use Trends among Public Secondary School Students In Aba, Nigeria

Abstract: Drug abuse is a serious problem with adverse consequences among
youths. Cases of psychoactive drug use among students in public secondary schools
in Aba Education Zone have been on the rise despite various efforts to create
awareness and nip it in the bud. The current study aimed to determine the influence of
intrinsic and extrinsic variables on psychoactive drug use tendencies of public
secondary school students in the study area. The study adopted the ex post facto
survey design. A sample of 200 students participated in the study. The participants
were selected through the multistage random sampling procedure. The data
collection instrument was the researcher-made questionnaire tagged “Intrinsic and
Extrinsic Predictors of Drug Use Tendencies Questionnaire” (I&EPDUQ). The
questionnaire was validated by three instrument development experts and had a
reliability index of .78 Cronbach's Alpha. Simple linear regression analysis was
employed in answering the research questions and testing the null hypotheses in the
study. Results obtained showed that curiosity, emotional distress, peer influence, and
parental substance use significantly predicted psychoactive substance use among
public school students in the study area. Based on these findings, it was
recommended, among others, that the government ensure public secondary schools
have functional counselling centres to provide counselling and rehabilitation services
to students who may have for whatever intrinsic or extrinsic reasons begun to
experiment with psychoactive drugs.