Socio-economic status, drug use and aggression among youths in Mbale District

Abstract

The study was to investigate the relationship between socio-economic status, drug-use and aggression among the unemployed youths of Bungokho South Constituency in Mbale District. The study was intending to achieve the following objectives; to examine the relationship between socio-economic status and drug-use, drug-use and aggression and socio-economic status and aggression. A correlation study was used in the study to examine the relationship between socio-economic status, drug-use and aggression among the unemployed youths of Bungokho South Constituency in Mbale District. The study used a sample of 173 respondents who were adopted using a simple random sampling technique. Data therefore was collected using interviews and self-administered questionnaires and later analyzed using Statistical Package for Psychologists .The hypotheses were tested using Pearson’s (r) correlation coefficient. The results show a statistically significant positive correlation of socio-economic status with drug abuse (r=0.223, p<0.01) at the level of significant (2-tailed) given by the Pearson correlation. The results also show a statistically significant positive correlation of socio-economic status and aggression (r=0.228, p<0.01) at the level of significant (2-tailed) given by the Pearson correlation. The results in table 10 above show a statistically significant positive correlation of socio-drug abuse and aggression (r=0.498, p<0.01) at the level of significant (2-tailed) given by the Pearson correlation. But it was recommended that more emphasis should be put on empowering the youth economically, as the finding prove that those below the medium socio-economic status are the most prone to drug-use and aggression.