Substance Abuse among Students: The Intervening Roles of Peer Pressure and Depression in Nigeria

Caleb Onah¹

1. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria.

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.9 , Issue.1 , pp.11-18, Jan-2023

Online published on Jan 31, 2023

Copyright © Caleb Onah . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
This study examines the effects of peer pressure and depression on substance abuse among undergraduate students at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. This study used a cross-sectional investigation design. 188 undergraduate students from the University of Lagos participated in the study. Data were collected using the Peer Pressure Inventory, Substance Abuse Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory. The statistical analysis used were descriptive statistics, simple linear and multiple regression. Hypothesis showed that, [F (1,186) = 201.343, R=.721 and R2=.520], hypothesis two revealed that [F(1,186) = 36.371, R =.742 and R2 =.551] and hypothesis three showed that, [F(2,185)=136.840, R=.772 and R2=.597]. This study concludes that peer pressure and depression significantly influence undergraduate of University of Lagos, Nigeria. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that good counselors be employed in schools to take care of students who cannot cope., in order to reduce their level of depression which makes them to get involved in substance misuse. Also, parents and teachers should encourage the students on the kind of peers they keep so that instead of involving in bad attitude, they will live a life that will be acceptable in their family, school and the society at large.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Substance Misuse, Peer Pressure, Drugs, Mental Health, Depression, Nigeria

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