Stress, peer pressure and substance use among students of Makerere University

Abstract

The study aimed finding out the relationship between stress, peer pressure and substance use among students of Makerere University. The study adopted a quantitative study design which was correlation in nature with a population of 290 students. Simple random sampling technique was used to draw a sample of 165 respondents from the population. Data was collected from respondents using self-administered standard questionnaire and entered inss the computer for analysis through Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 23. Descriptive statistics showed that (87.3 %) of the respondents were female and (12.7%) were male, majority were between 18-295 years (96.4%). Results from Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (r) further indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between peer pressure and stress (r= .838**, p=.000), as well as stress and substance use (r=.892**, p=.000), and peer pressure and substance (r=.793**, p=.000). Therefore, the present study provides a basis and implications for further investigation on relationship between stress, peer pressure and substance use among students in different universities in Uganda. It was recommended that the management of Makerere University should design polices focusing on minimizing stress, peer pressure and substance use since they affect students’ studies. This is through encouraging students to go for counseling services provided by the university. It this is handled well, then cases of substance use may reduce at the university.