Prevalence of depression and its relationship with drug abuse among senior secondary school students in Calabar, Calabar Cross river state, Nigeria

Abstract

The society is getting more challenging for human living due to civilization and globalization. The secondary school students have their own share of the challenges. This has brought about increased prevalence of depression among the students. It is also noted that the use of illicit drugs are on the increase. Before, the use of illicit drugs was blamed on family background and peer influence. This research aimed at finding if there is a relationship between depression and drug abuse. The researchers also assessed the prevalence of these variables among senior secondary schools students in Calabar, Cross River State. The population of the study was one thousand and two (1002) senior secondary school students. Purposive and random sampling techniques were used to select the schools and the students respectively. Two hundred (200) students, representing about 20% of the population were involved in the study. However, only one hundred and ninety (190) successfully completed the stages of the study. Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI) and Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST) were the instruments used to collect data. Descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient were used to analyze the data. The result showed that there is increased prevalence of both depression and drug abuse among the students. There is also a significant relationship between depression and drug abuse. The result was discussed after which the researchers recommended that homes and school environment should be made more friendly to enable the students share their problems with parents, teachers, and school management.