Contemporary Trend of Drug Abuse Among In-School Adolescents in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Presently, drug abuse has become a societal problem with its prevalence being found among adolescents in Nigeria. This study focuses on the contemporary trend of drug abuse among in-school adolescents in Kwara State, Nigeria. The study employed the use of a descriptive survey design. One hundred respondents were chosen for the study through the use of a simple random sampling technique from the three Senatorial districts of Kwara State. In total, three hundred adolescents participated in the study. The respondents were stratified on the basis of age and gender. In order to ascertain the validity of the instrument of this study, copies of the questionnaire were given to experts and lecturers in related fields for vetting. A reliability index of 0.75 was obtained using a test-retest method. The instrument used for this study was tagged “Trends of Drug Abuse Questionnaire” (TDAQ). The outcome of this research revealed that a significant difference existed in in-school adolescent’s perception on the contemporary trend of drug abuse based on age. However, on the basis of gender, the respondent’s perceptions were similar. Given these results, it is recommended that drug refusal skills as well as drug education be incorporated into students’ orientation programs.