Stress peer pressure and substance abuse among university students

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess stress, peer pressure and substance abuse among Makerere university students.

Methodology: This study adopted a descriptive survey design method and data was collected from 68 students from the Makerere University using questionnaires. The study analyzed data at univariate and bivariate levels using SPSS. In order to test for the hypothesis, the study used the pearsons correlation at 95% confidence interval.

Findings: Results showed that majority of the respondents were female accounting for 55.9 percent, were single (85.3%), were 21 and above years (82.4%) offering arts courses (73.5%) studying during day (85.3%) and staying in halls of residence (66.2%). While testing for hypothesis of the study, results showed that there was no significant relationship between stress, peer pressure and substance abuse among university students since p-value<0.05.

Recommendation: The study recommends that awareness creation about the adverse effects of substance use and academic counseling in the first year at university and putative stress reduction interventions.