Social Variables and Prevalence of Drug Abuse among Secondary School Students in Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial, Nigeria

This study examined how social variables influence prevalence of drug abuse among secondary school students in the North-East Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Four null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study was guided by ecological systems theory and problem behaviour theory, which emphasizes that adolescent behaviour is influenced by multiple interacting social environments such as family and school. The study adopted the ex-post facto research design. The population consisted of 11,892 Senior Secondary School III students in 85 public secondary schools in the study area. A sample of 1,189 students was selected using a multi-stage sampling technique, while 1,181 valid responses were used for analysis. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire titled Social Variables and Prevalence of Drug Abuse Questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.82 using Cronbach alpha. Independent t-test and analysis of variance were used to test the hypotheses at .05 alpha levels. The findings revealed that family income, parental educational level, parent-child relationship and school-student relationship all significantly influence the prevalence of drug abuse among secondary school students. It was concluded that drug abuse among secondary school students is strongly influenced by social environmental factors. It was recommended that collaborative efforts among parents, schools and government agencies should be strengthened to address peer influence, improve family relationships, enhance school connectedness, and reduce socioeconomic vulnerabilities that contribute to drug abuse among students.