Stress, drug abuse and physical abuse among school going children in Uganda

Abstract

The study sought to examine the relationship between stress, drug abuse and physical abuse among school going children in Uganda. The objective of the study were; to assess the relationship between stress and physical abuse, to assess the relationship between drug abuse and physical abuse and to assess the relationship between stress and drug abuse among school going children in Uganda. The study adopted a correlational survey as its research design where quantitative method was used to gather information for proper analysis and making appropriate inferences, generalizations and conclusions to the population where a sample size of 40 students both male and female was used. The research study employed a simple random sampling technique to select the respondents. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents and the analysis was done using SPSS version 21. The first hypothesis of the study stated that there is a significant relationship between occupational stress and depression. Results in table 2 rejected stating that there is no significant relationship between stress and physical abuse at r =310, p=.051>0.05. The second hypothesis of the study stated that there is no significant relationship between drug abuse and physical abuse. Results in table 3 rejected that there is no significant relationship between drug abuse and physical abuse at r=040, p=.080>0.05. And the last hypothesis of the study stated that there is a significant relationship between stress and drug abuse. Results in table 4 revealed that there is no significant relationship between stress and drug abuse at r= -149, p=.036<0.05. Therefore, in conclusion the study revealed that stress could not be the only cause of child physical abuse and drug abuse that stressed children commonly face. In recommendations, children should be taught to practice self-control to avoid getting in to bad habits like doing drugs and others because most of them are harmful to their health. They should be taught how to appraise the stressor and how to cope with it. They can use reappraisal as a copying strategy by viewing situations differently like resorting to games and watching movies or television and not doing drugs. Physical abuse could be from their colleagues or parents through neglect, domestic violence, and family dysfunction which exposes them to so many negative actions which takes us to the findings of the study. Research should be carried out to find out what the causes of child physical abuse and drug abuse are to that closely tackle the problem and find its solution