SOCIO-DEMOGRAGHIC DETERMINANTS OF DRUG ABUSE AND PERCEIVED CONSEQUENCES TO HEALTH AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN EZZA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, EBONYI STATE

Abstract

The study was conducted to ascertain the drugs abuse among secondary school students
in Ezza North LGA, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Four specific objectives with four
corresponding research questions and three null-hypotheses were postulated to guide the
study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The sample
consisted of 674 secondary school students. Random sampling techniques of balloting
without replacement, disproportionate sampling techniques and systematic sampling
techniques were used to draw the sample for the study. A two-section researcher’s
designed questionnaire which was titled Extent of Drug Abuse Questionnaire (ESAQ)
was the instrument used for data collection. The instrument was validated by five experts
from the Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, University of Nigeria,
Nsukka. Mean statistic was used to answer the research questions while t-test statistic
and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used in testing null hypotheses at .05 level of
significance. The result of the study showed that: the secondary school students were
abusing stimulants drugs in a very low extent as their cluster mean score is (1.81). The
socio-demographic factors (gender and age) considered, had no significant influence at
.05 level of significance on the drug abuse among secondary school students while class
of study had a significant difference at .05 level of significance on the drug abuse among
the students. The study supports the need for compulsory drug education in both
primary and secondary schools in the area to educate the students about the dangers
associated with drug abuse.