Parental separation, self esteem and substance abuse among adolescents

Abstract

This dissertation study examines the relationship between parental separation, self-esteem and substance abuse among adolescents. Drawing from existing literature, parental separation has shown to be one of the adverse challenges that many adolescents face as they navigate life. Most of them fail to cope positively having the separation of their parents rub on their self-esteem and drive them to abuse substances to cope with the challenges it presents. To achieve the purpose of this study, questionnaires addressing parental separation, self-esteem and substance abuse were administered to 100 adolescents, ages 15 to 20, selected randomly. The results of the study underscore the importance of parental separation as a risk factor for substance abuse and low self-esteem among adolescents and neither does self-esteem significantly influence the involvement of adolescents in substance abuse. While the results suggest otherwise from the literature, it is still important to stress the need to prepare adolescents for parental separation when it is being planned through counseling to minimize its negative effects on them.