Stress, depression and substance abuse among adolescents

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between Stress, depression and Substance abuse among adolescents in Katanga slums, a settlement area located in Kawempe division, Kampala. The study targeted 150 adolescents, 62 males and 88 females aged 13-20 years of age and a qualitative research design; correlational method was adopted to establish the relationship between the variables. A constructed self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the 150 respondents. Collected data was analyzed using Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS Version, 24) and Pearson Correlation Coefficient (r) was used to test the level of significance of the hypotheses. Results showed that there is a significant relationship between Stress and substance abuse (r=.297**, p=.000), as well as stress and depression among adolescents (r=.606, p=.000), Results also revealed that depression is significantly related to substance abuse among adolescents (r=.320, p=.000).