Peer pressure, stress and substance abuse among adolescents

Abstract

Substance Abuse has become a large phenomenon in Uganda affecting all segments of society. The use of alcohol, tobacco, various drugs is a wide spread phenomenon among youths. The abuse of psychoactive drugs among youths is an issue of national importance. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between Peer pressure, Stress and Substance abuse among adolescents in Soweto Zone, Katanga, a settlement area located in Kawempe division, Kampala. The study targeted 100 adolescents, 33 males and 67 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 100 respondents. Collected data was analyzed using Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS Version, 23) 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 Peer Pressure and Stress (r=.330**, p<0.01), as well as Stress and Substance Abuse among adolescents (r=0.167**, p<0.01), Results also revealed that Peer Pressure is significantly related to Substance Abuse among adolescents (r=.402**, p<0.01).