Home About us Editorial board Search Ahead of print Current issue Archives Submit article Instructions Subscribe Contacts Login 
Home Print this page Email this page
Users Online:: 3514

 Table of Contents  
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year : 2015  |  Volume : 18  |  Issue : 4  |  Page : 192-199

Correlates of psychoactive substance use among Nigerian adolescents


1 Forensic Unit, Psychiatric Hospital, Uselu Benin City, Benin City, Nigeria
2 Department of Mental Health, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria

Date of Web Publication16-Feb-2016

Correspondence Address:
Ehigiator O Adayonfo
Department of Mental Health, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City
Nigeria
Login to access the Email id

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/1118-8561.176586

Rights and Permissions
  Abstract 

Context: The abuse of psychoactive substances which is one of the most important global public health problems begins in adolescence. Adolescents usually start by abusing the gateway substances. They suffer social, economic, physical, and legal consequences on account of use of substances, and this is very worrisome because of the increasing prevalence of use. Aims: The aim was to identify the characteristics of adolescents that use gateway substances. This knowledge shall be utilized in preventive programs. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional study with secondary school adolescents as participants. Subjects and Methods: Multistage sampling technique was used to select 492 respondents and the questionnaire consisted of characteristics of the adolescents, their families and schools and the alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and stimulant use sections of the World Health Organisation questionnaire for student drug use surveys. Statistical Analysis Used: The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, and Chi-square statistics was used. Results: Having a friend who uses substance was significantly associated with tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and caffeine use while being a male, having a family member that uses substance were significantly associated with tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine use. Older age, lack of satisfaction with the relationship with the teacher and polygamous family background were significantly associated with tobacco use. And finally, lack of satisfaction with the relationship with parents/guardians and having parents or guardians who are not religious were significantly associated with alcohol use. Conclusion: A comprehensive approach is needed to prevent the use of substances; this should target individuals, schools, families, and religious institutions.

Keywords: Adolescents, correlates, gateway substance, psychoactive substance


How to cite this article:
Akanni OO, Adayonfo EO. Correlates of psychoactive substance use among Nigerian adolescents. Sahel Med J 2015;18:192-9

How to cite this URL:
Akanni OO, Adayonfo EO. Correlates of psychoactive substance use among Nigerian adolescents. Sahel Med J [serial online] 2015 [cited 2024 Mar 28];18:192-9. Available from: https://www.smjonline.org/text.asp?2015/18/4/192/176586


  Introduction Top


Psychoactive substance use is a major public health problem,[1],[2],[3] lifetime substance use prevalence among adolescents is sometimes higher than 50%.[4],[5] This study focused on alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and caffeine.[6] The high prevalence of caffeine use [7] and its relationship with the brain fag syndrome among students,[8] further justify its inclusion. These “gateway” substances have very high prevalence rates.[9],[10] Adolescents start using them and thereafter use cocaine, heroin etc.,[6] with consequent impairment of their development.[11] Thus, this study sorts to identify the characteristics of adolescents that use gateway substances; in a bid to formulate preventive strategies.


  Subjects and Methods Top


The study was a cross-sectional one carried out among adolescents in class three of senior secondary schools (SSS) in Oredo local government area of Benin City, Nigeria. The city which has an estimated population of 1.14 million people [12] is made up of three local government areas; namely Egor, Ikpoba-Okha and Oredo. Oredo was selected randomly. The local government area had 13 government-owned (public) and 125 government-approved private schools, and the total population of secondary school students was 62,360 (29,349 males and 33,011 females). There were 23,672 students in public schools and 38,688 students in private schools (a ratio of 1:1.6).[13]

Ethical considerations included getting approval from the Ethical Committee of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin city to conduct the study and permission was obtained from the Ministry of Education and the authorities of the schools used. Informed consent was obtained from the participants who were 18- and 19-year-old while the parents/guardians of students who were <18 years were required to sign consent forms in addition to the assent of such students. There was observance of confidentiality.

The inclusion (eligibility) criteria were:

  • The respondents must be in the final year class of SSS 3 of the selected schools
  • They must also be 16–19 years old.


While the exclusion criteria were:

  • Students who were outside the age range of 16–19 years
  • Any student who did not give consent or assent
  • Any student whose parent or guardian did not give consent (this applied to students who were <18 years old).


The sample size n, was calculated to be 384 using the Fisher's formula;[14] thus, the minimum number of participants required was 384. However, the sample size was increased to 492 to improve accuracy, accommodate inadequately completed questionnaires and to maintain the ratio of the population of the students in public to private schools at 1:1.6.

The sampling method was a three-stage technique.[5] At stage one, Oredo local government area was selected from the three local government areas that make up Benin City by simple random sampling. Stage two entailed the selection of 18 schools from Oredo. The schools were stratified into public and private schools to ensure appropriate representation of students. Since all the private schools in Oredo were mixed schools, selection of schools was restricted to only mixed schools to make a comparison of findings easier. One of the school principal of the five mixed public schools in the local government did not give permission for the study to be carried out in his school. Thus, all the other four mixed public schools were recruited while 15 private schools were selected randomly. At stage three, all eligible students across the four mixed public schools were interviewed, a total of 187 students. Owing to the wide range of population of SSS 3 per private school, it was decided that 20 students (the lower range of the variation) from each private school would be selected. Some of the private schools selected had <20 eligible students, so all the eligible students in such schools were interviewed. The deficits were made up by eligible students from other private schools. Where a private school had surplus eligible students, balloting was done to select participants. Consequently, a total of 492 students were interviewed, 187 from public schools and 305 from private schools (a ratio of 1:1.6).

A self-administered questionnaire was used for the study. It consisted of two sections:

  • Section A: This section was designed to gather information about the sociodemographic characteristics of the adolescents, their families and schools
  • Section B: This section consisted of the alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and stimulant use sections of the World Health Organisation Questionnaire for student drug use surveys. This instrument was developed by several persons from different parts of the world including Nigeria.[15] The instrument has been used in different cultures and countries, including Nigeria. A high validity and a mean test – retest reliability of 86.7% have been reported for all items of the questionnaire.[16] An alpha reliability of 0.76 was obtained for this instrument.


The questionnaires were administered to the students in their classrooms during break time with the assistance from two trained research assistants who had tertiary level of education. Each school had to be visited at least twice. The first visit was to distribute the consent forms to the students aged 16 and 17 years to take home for their parents or guardians to give approval, and those aged 18 and 19 years who assented to partake noted. Subsequent visit was to collect the consent forms and administer the questionnaires. Instructions for completing the questionnaires were explained to them at the beginning and subsequently whenever the participants needed clarification. The data collected were analyzed using the SPSS Inc. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16[17] and inferential statistics used.


  Results Top


A total of 492 questionnaires were administered, all were returned, but 27 questionnaires were either incompletely filled or contained inconsistent responses or both. They were therefore discarded. As a result, a total of 465 questionnaires were analyzed, giving a proper response rate of 94.5%.

[Table 1] shows the comparison of sociodemographic variables of tobacco users and nonusers. The difference in the ages between those that have used tobacco and nonusers was statistically significant. 19 (9.0%) of the respondents who are 16 years use tobacco, this percentage decreased to 5.3% at age 17 but increased steadily to 13% at age 18 and significantly to 20% at age 19. The older the respondents, the more likely they would use tobacco. 30% of the male and 13% of the female respondents used tobacco. This gender difference in the proportion of users was statistically significant; the males being more likely to use tobacco than the females. There was no statistically significant difference in the religion of those that have used tobacco and those that have not used. Similarly, school type did not yield statistically significant difference. Equal percentages of lifetime tobacco use were reported for respondents in both public and private schools. 16% of the respondents from a polygamous family used tobacco as against 7.4% of the respondents from monogamous family. This was statistically significant. Other variables that showed statistically significant association with lifetime use of tobacco included: Having a friend at school or a family member who used any of the substances and dis-satisfaction with respondents' relationship with the teacher.
Table 1: Comparison of sociodemographic variables of tobacco users and nonusers

Click here to view


[Table 2] shows the comparison of sociodemographic variables of alcohol users and nonusers. Apart from gender, where the male gender was significantly associated with lifetime use of alcohol, other demographic variables were not. Other variables that were statistically significantly associated with lifetime use of alcohol included: Having a friend at school or a family member who used any substances, respondents' dis-satisfaction with relationship with parents/guardian and parent/guardian's nonreligiosity.
Table 2: Comparison of sociodemographic variables of alcohol users and nonusers

Click here to view


[Table 3] shows the comparison of sociodemographic variables of cannabis users and nonusers. Although more of the respondents who were older, males, Muslims, in public schools, and from polygamous homes had used cannabis in their lifetime, none of these variables was significantly associated with lifetime use of cannabis. There was a significant association of lifetime use of cannabis and having a friend in school that uses any of the substances.
Table 3: Comparison of sociodemographic variables of cannabis users and nonusers

Click here to view


[Table 4] shows the comparison of sociodemographic variables of caffeine users and nonusers. Only the male gender was significantly associated with lifetime use of caffeine, other demographic variables were not. Other variables that were significantly associated with lifetime use of caffeine included: Having a friend at school or a family member who uses any substance.
Table 4: Comparison of sociodemographic variables of caffeine users and nonusers

Click here to view



  Discussion Top


Like in many other studies,[18],[19] males had a higher prevalence of use of all the psychoactive substances. The lifetime use of caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco was noted to be significantly associated with male gender. Although more males than females had used cannabis in their lifetime, the difference was not significant. This finding of nonsignificance has been reported in another study.[20] It is, however, important to note that conflicting reports exist with regard to the relationship between gender and lifetime use of cannabis. In general, males tend to engage more in risky behaviors [21] which include the use of psychoactive substances; and this inclination to undertake risky behaviors has been linked with the greater quantity of testosterone in males. Furthermore, parents, guardians, and society at large are likely to frown more at females who engage in risky behaviors including the use of psychoactive substances. In a nutshell, society may be more permissive to the use of psychoactive substances by males. Our child rearing practices seem to impose more restrictions on females than males. Therefore, more males are likely to go about to places (and with persons) unknown to their parents and guardians, where they may be introduced to the use of psychoactive substances. In addition, for a substance like alcohol, females are more vulnerable to the negative health effects.[22] This may serve as deterrence for other females who would have used alcohol. The finding that lifetime use of cannabis was not significantly associated with gender may be explained by the relative paucity of respondents who reported use of cannabis (only 12).

Age was generally not significantly associated with lifetime use of substances except for tobacco where increasing age was significantly associated with tobacco use. Several studies have reported an association between substance use and older age.[5],[20],[23] The finding in this study may be due to the narrowness of the age groups studied. In addition, the relatively high level of acceptance of alcohol and caffeine may also explain this. Tobacco appears to be less acceptable and as earlier noted only 12 respondents answered affirmatively to lifetime use of cannabis.

School type (whether public or private) was not associated with the use of the substance. This is comparable to a previous report,[5] which also did not show any significant association between school type and substance use. But it is worthy of note that other school-related factors such as having a friend in school that uses a substance was generally associated with lifetime substance use. This shows that activities in school may be more predictive of substance use than the school type. This brings to light the role peers may play in substance use.

The religious affiliation did not associate significantly with lifetime use of any substance. This is in keeping with existing findings.[5],[24] Virtually, all the respondents were either Christians or Moslems and these two religions are largely similar. In general, family background did not have a significant association with lifetime substance use in this study except for tobacco use in which polygamous family showed a significant association. This is unlike previous studies [5],[24] which have reported substance use to be significantly associated with polygamous family background. Though, family background did not generally have a significant association with substance use, other family factor such as having a family member who uses a substance generally did. Having a family member who uses a substance was significantly associated with lifetime use of all substances except for cannabis. The finding supports the theory of use of the substance as a learned behavior. Having a family member who uses a substance was a risk factor for substance use regardless of family background.

More studies of this kind are recommended and should be extended to adolescents not captured in this study. This is expected to shed more light on the magnitude of the problem of substance use. A comprehensive approach should be used to reduce the prevalence of substance use; it should target schools, families, religious congregation, and other foci where the target population are likely to be found. Family-oriented intervention will be rewarding in the light of the significant association of adolescent substance use with the presence of a family member that uses substances. Intervention should aim at discouraging and re-orienting significant others in the family concerning the use of the substance. Mass awareness campaigns to schools and the inclusion of substance abuse in the curriculum of schools will go a long way to mitigate the use of substances. Since male gender was found to be associated with substance use, more attention should be given to male students when preventive programs are being designed.

 
  References Top

1.
Bauman A, Phongsavan P. Epidemiology of substance use in adolescence: Prevalence, trends and policy implications. Drug Alcohol Depend 1999;55:187-207.  Back to cited text no. 1
    
2.
World Health Organisation. Adolescents Development. c2013. Available from: http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/topics/adolescence/dev/en/. [Last cited on 2013 Feb 07].  Back to cited text no. 2
    
3.
Fergusson DM, Horwood LJ. Transitions to cigarette smoking during adolescence. Addict Behav 1995;20:627-42.  Back to cited text no. 3
    
4.
Anochie C, Nkanginieme KE, Eke F, Alikor EA. Drug abuse among secondary school students in Port Harcourt metropolis. Niger J Med 1999;8:17-23.  Back to cited text no. 4
    
5.
Ikegwuonu NN. Substance Use and Psychopathology among Senior Secondary School Students in Enugu. A Dissertation Submitted to the West African Postgraduate Medical College, Faculty of Psychiatry, in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Fellowship of the College [unpublished]; 2009.  Back to cited text no. 5
    
6.
Sussman S, Skara S, Rodriguez Y, Pokhrel P. Non drug use- and drug use-specific spirituality as one-year predictors of drug use among high-risk youth. Subst Use Misuse 2006;41:1801-16.  Back to cited text no. 6
    
7.
Fatoye FO, Morakinyo O. Psychopathology among senior secondary school students in Ilesa, south western Nigeria. Niger Postgrad Med J 2003;10:182-7.  Back to cited text no. 7
  Medknow Journal  
8.
Morakinyo O. A psychophysiological theory of a psychiatric illness (the brain fag syndrome) associated with study among Africans. J Nerv Ment Dis 1980;168:84-9.  Back to cited text no. 8
    
9.
Abiodun OA, Adelekan ML, Ogunremi OO, Oni GA, Obayan AO. Pattern of substance use amongst secondary school students in Ilorin, northern Nigeria. West Afr J Med 1994;13:91-7.  Back to cited text no. 9
    
10.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance Summaries. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2004;53:SS-2. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/ss5302.pdf. [Last cited on 2011 Nov 22].  Back to cited text no. 10
    
11.
Newcomb MD, Bentler PM. Impact of adolescent drug use and social support on problems of young adults: A longitudinal study. J Abnorm Psychol 1988;97:64-75.  Back to cited text no. 11
    
12.
National Population Commission, Nigeria. Data for National Development; c2013. Available from: http://www.population.gov.ng/. [Last cited on 2013 Jan 06].  Back to cited text no. 12
    
13.
Edo State Ministry of Education. Edo State Ministry of Education: Research and Statistics Division; 2011.  Back to cited text no. 13
    
14.
Vaughan JP, Morrow RH. Manual of Epidemiology for District Health Management. Geneva: WHO; 1989. p. 175-9.  Back to cited text no. 14
    
15.
Smart RG, Hyghes PH, Johnson LD, Anumonye A, Medinamora ME, Navaratnam V, et al. A Methodology for Student Drug Use Surveys. Geneva: WHO Offset Publication; 1990. p. 50.  Back to cited text no. 15
    
16.
Adelekan ML. Self-reported drug use among secondary school students in the Nigerian state of Ogun. Bull Narc 1989;41:109-16.  Back to cited text no. 16
    
17.
Statistical Package for Social Sciences. SPSS for Windows, Version 16.0. Chicago, USA: SPSS Inc.; 2007.  Back to cited text no. 17
    
18.
Igwe WC, Ojinaka N, Ejiofor SO, Emechebe GO, Ibe BC. Sociodemographic correlates of psychoactive substance abuse among secondary school students in Enugu, Nigeria. Eur J Soc 2009;12:277-83.  Back to cited text no. 18
    
19.
Oshodi OY, Aina OF, Onajole AT. Substance use among secondary school students in an urban setting in Nigeria: Prevalence and associated factors. Afr J Psychiatry (Johannesbg) 2010;13:52-7.  Back to cited text no. 19
    
20.
Shehu AU, Idris SH. Marijuana smoking among secondary school students in Zaria, Nigeria: Factors responsible and effects on academic performance. Ann Afr Med 2008;7:175-9.  Back to cited text no. 20
[PUBMED]  Medknow Journal  
21.
Mann K, Ackermann K, Croissant B, Mundle G, Nakovics H, Diehl A. Neuroimaging of gender differences in alcohol dependence: Are women more vulnerable? Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2005;29:896-901.  Back to cited text no. 21
    
22.
Okwaraji FE. Substance abuse among secondary school adolescents in Enugu. J Coll Med 2006;11:130-5.  Back to cited text no. 22
    
23.
Hamdulay AK. The prevalence of substance use and its associations amongst students attending high school in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town. S Afr Fam Pract 2011;53:83-90.  Back to cited text no. 23
    
24.
Fatoye FO. Psychosocial correlates of substance use amongst secondary school students in south western Nigeria. East Afr Med J 2003;80:154-8.  Back to cited text no. 24
    



 
 
    Tables

  [Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3], [Table 4]


This article has been cited by
1 The prevalence, mechanism of action, and toxicity of Nigerian psychoactive plants
Olamide Wilson Fasakin, Ganiyu Oboh, Ayokunle Olubode Ademosun
Comparative Clinical Pathology. 2022;
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
2 The Prevalence of Psychoactive Substance use and related factors among Delta State University, Students
Aghoja OC, Akonoghrere RO, Edohor OB
Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2022; : 837
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
3 Effects of the "Unplugged" school-based substance use prevention program in Nigeria: a cluster randomized controlled trial
Federica Vigna-Taglianti,Emina Mehanovic,Marta Alesina,Ljiljana Damjanovic,Akanidomo Ibanga,Juliet Pwajok,Glen Prichard,Peer van der Kreeft,Harsheth Kaur Virk
Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2021; : 108966
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
4 Correlates of alcohol experimentation and drunkenness episodes among secondary-school students in Nigeria
Emina Mehanovic,Harsheth Kaur Virk,Akanidomo Ibanga,Juliet Pwajok,Glen Prichard,Peer van der Kreeft,Federica Vigna-Taglianti
Substance Abuse. 2021; : 1
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
5 Age, home and school involvements, and home–school communication in alcohol use among secondary school students
Abiodun Musbau Lawal
Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. 2019; : 1
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
6 Knowledge, attitudes and behaviours on tobacco, alcohol and other drugs among Nigerian secondary school students: Differences by geopolitical zones
Federica Vigna-Taglianti,Marta Alesina,Ljiljana Damjanovic,Emina Mehanovic,Ibanga Akanidomo,Juliet Pwajok,Glen Prichard,Peer Kreeft,Harsheth K. Virk
Drug and Alcohol Review. 2019;
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
7 Correlates of cannabis and other illicit drugs use among secondary school adolescents in Nigeria
Emina Mehanovic,Harsheth Kaur Virk,Ibanga Akanidomo,Juliet Pwajok,Glen Prichard,Peer van der Kreeft,Federica Vigna-Taglianti,Federica Vigna-Taglianti,Marta Alesina,Gian Luca Cuomo,Ljiljana Damjanovic,Valeria Di Marco,Laura Donati,Emina Mehanovic,Serena Vadrucci,Harsheth Kaur Virk,Ibanga Akanidomo,Glen Prichard,Juliet Pwajok,Peer van der Kreeft,Ann Ogbonna,Rhoda Madu,Francis Elisha,Ruth Owotumi,Peter Ojunugba,Alhaji Baba Hussaini,Stella Ngozi Ngwoke,Paul Kamai
Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2019;
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
8 A Survey on Caffeine Consumption and Risky Behaviors Among a Sample of Secondary School Students in Nigeria
Oluyemi O. Akanni
Journal of Caffeine Research. 2017;
[Pubmed] | [DOI]



 

Top
 
 
  Search
 
Similar in PUBMED
   Search Pubmed for
   Search in Google Scholar for
 Related articles
Access Statistics
Email Alert *
Add to My List *
* Registration required (free)

 
  In this article
   Abstract
  Introduction
  Subjects and Methods
  Results
  Discussion
   References
   Article Tables

 Article Access Statistics
    Viewed10721    
    Printed332    
    Emailed1    
    PDF Downloaded788    
    Comments [Add]    
    Cited by others 8    

Recommend this journal


[TAG2]
[TAG3]
[TAG4]