Substance abuse is a global health phenomenon that varies with each locality. The use of substances such as tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs among adolescents and young adults has created behavioural and health issues, and have become a subject of public concern worldwide, partly because of its potential to contribute to unintentional and intentional injury. Most researchers have worked in this area but the rates of drug abuse are still on the rise. Therefore, this study evaluated predictors of substance abuse among adolescents in selected secondary schools in Abeokuta South Local Government, Ogun State, Nigeria. A quantitative descriptive survey research design was adopted with a sample size 400 students drawn from the four selected secondary schools. Multistage sampling technique was employed to select the schools. A validated questionnaire was used with Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency, which ranges from 0.816 to 0.875. Data collected were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23 to generate summaries of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. From the twenty-three (23) independent variables, only four (4) shows that there was significant relationship which are teachers abusing drugs, media and publicity, older sibling influence and parent abusing drugs at p<.001. The report pointed out that most students of the schools had adequate knowledge of what drug abuse was with a fairly good attitude and yet for one reason or the other, they still engage in the act. It was recommended among others that parents and teachers should be firm and be willing to discourage their children from taking alcohol and other related drugs.

Keywords: Adolescent, Substance Abuse, Predictors, Schools,

Cite this article: