Perceived social support, stress and substance use among school going adolescents in Kampala Capitals City.

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between Perceived Social Support, Stress and Substance use among school going adolescents. The study involved critical review of existing literature which was obtained through internet, articles and library books. It adopted a correlational research design and quantitative approach. A sample of 100 adolescents both boys and girls aged between 13-20 years were selected by use of simple random sampling technique. The study was conducted at Faiha High School Kampala District. Semi structured questionnaires were the main tools in data collection and data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v20). Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to determine the level of significance of the hypotheses. Results indicated that there is a significant relationship between Perceived Social Support and Stress, there is a significant relationship between Perceived social support and substance use, and there is a significant relationship between stress and substance use among Adolescents.Thus, this study recommends that school administration should ensure that counseling services are made available for the students to cope with stress. This would intern more likely to increase students academic performance.