Self Esteem, peer pressure and drug abuse among secondary school students.

Abstract

Self Esteem, Peer Pressure and Drug Abuse among Secondary School Students. This study is sought to explain the relationship between self-esteem, peer pressure and drug abuse among adolescents in secondary schools. The objectives are; To examine the relationship between self-esteem and drug abuse among adolescents in secondary schools. To find out the relationship between peer pressure and drug abuse among adolescents in secondary schools and to see whether self-esteem and drug abuse buffers against drug abuse among adolescents in secondary schools. The research was a correlated design seeking to investigate the symmetrical relationship between self-esteem and drug abuse, peer influence and drug abuse, and self-esteem and peer pressure among secondary school students. The research involved only secondary school students in Kiruhura district aged between twelve (12) to nineteen years (19). Respondents were only secondary school students aged between 13 to 25 years of age both girls and boys, simple random method was used to give all possible subset an equal probability of being selected in order to get a hundred students (100) that were my respondents. Correlation results in Table 2 show that there is no significant relationship between self-esteem and drug abuse among secondary school students (r₌0.163*, p₌0.106), the p value (0.106). Correlation results in Table 3 show that there is no significant relationship between peer pressure and drug abuse among secondary school students in Kiruhura district (r₌-0.163*, p₌0.107). Correlation results from Table 4 show that there is no significant relationship between self-esteem and peer pressure among secondary school students in Kiruhura district (r0 -0.018*, p (0.858). In conclusion, results meant that if a person has low self-esteem, he cannot easily go into drugs, and also a person who abuses drugs may not develop a low self-esteem and the low peer pressure a person experience from his peers the lower the chances of taking drug.