Self-esteem, health locus of control and resilient personality as predictors of substance abuse among in-school adolescents in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Substance abuse has become a recurring issue that affects the individual, family and the society with enormous costs. The issue is more disturbing as more in-school adolescents are getting into substance abuse that is threatening the social fabric of the society. Studies have investigated several predictors of substance abuse with varied results. Therefore, this study examined selfesteem, health locus of control and resilient personality as predictors of substance abuse among in-school adolescents in Ibadan, Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design using purposive sampling technique to select six secondary schools in Ibadan metropolis. Data were collected from 309 participants using validated questionnaires. Data collected were analyzed using t- test for independent samples and multiple regression analysis. Results indicated that self-esteem [t (307) = 7.24, p < 0.05], health locus of control [t (307) = 4.10, p < 0.05] and resilient personality [t (307) = 3.10, p < 0.05] significantly influenced substance abuse among in- school adolescents. Also, the results revealed that self- esteem, health locus of control and resilient personality jointly predicted substance abuse among study participants [R2 = 0.14, F (3, 299) = 9.37, p < 0.05]. Finally, the results showed that health locus of control (β = 0.31, p < 0.05) and resilient personality (β = 0.45, p < 0.05) independently predicted substance abuse among in- school adolescents. The study concluded that self- esteem, health locus of control and resilient personality are strong predictors of substance abuse among in- school adolescents. The study recommended that government and other stakeholders should design and implement programmes that will help to improve self-esteem, health locus of control and resiliency among in-school adolescents to reduce attraction to substance abuse.