PREVALENT DRUG-ABUSE-RELATED MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ILORIN METROPOLIS, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined prevalent drug-abuse-related mental health problems among secondary school students in Ilorin Metropolis of Kwara State. The influence of the variables of gender, age, school type, and parental occupation was also examined. The study was a descriptive survey research. The population comprised all the secondary school students in Kwara State. Two hundred students were used as the sample. A validated questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.84 was used to collect data. One research question and four hypotheses guided the study. Data was analysed using percentage, mean, t-test, and analysis of variance. Hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings in the research question revealed that having excessive fear, mood swings, sleeping too much or too little, withdrawal from peers, unable to complete daily tasks, among others, were the most prevalent drug-abuse-related mental health problems. More prevalent ones are feeling of frustration; feeling of anger, feeling of guilt and loss of interest in many activities while feeling of sadness; feeling confused; feeling of loneliness; having low energy; alcohol or drug use dependence; displaying disastrous behaviours; having suicidal thought; depression; and mental ill-health were least prevalent of drug-abuse-related mental health problems among the students. Findings showed that there was no significant difference in the prevalence of drug-abuse-related mental health problems based on age. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of drug-abuse-related mental health problems based on school type. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of drug-abuse related mental health problems based on gender, and there was a significant difference in the prevalence of drug-abuse related mental health problems based on parents’ job status, such as being a civil servant, self-employed, unemployed, retired, and others. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that stakeholders in secondary education should sensitize the students on the mental health problems associated with drug abuse, school counsellors should give psycho education to the students and encourage them to consult with the health care providers for drug-abuse-related mental health problems noticed among them.