Socio-demographic predictors of alcohol, smoking and substance involvement among secondary school students in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the association between socio-demographic variables (age, gender, religion, ethnicity, class, school) and alcohol, smoking and substance involvement among secondary school students in Nigeria. The participants comprised 341 female and 249 male JSS1 to SS3 secondary school students, ranging between 9 and 23 years (M=14.44; SD= 1.67). They were randomly sampled from eight secondary schools in Lagos Mainland. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) was used to measure student’s level of substance involvement. The result showed that about 46% (270) of the participants were involved in substance use. The standard multiple regression analysis showed a positive relationship between age, gender, r eligion, ethnicity, class, school and Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement (F= 3.755; R= .193; p = .001). This finding demonstrates that age, gender, religion, ethnicity, class and school tend to predict Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement among students in Nigerian secondary schools. The findings were discussed, and recommendations were made on how to curb substance use among students, including evaluating the effect of peer influence.