Abstract:
Drug and substance abuse is one of the most risk-taking behaviours during the adolescence period. The media has been replete with stories of adolescents caught with alcohol and drugs either in the school compounds or in towns during education activities like sports and drama. It is the role of all concerned to seek ways of dealing with the problem of alcohol and drug use in our secondary schools. This study sought to find out the extent to which adolescents in Thika District abuse drugs, and find out the personality characteristics that predict drug /substance abuse. The study determined the influence of locus of control on drug and substance abuse among secondary school adolescents. The specific objectives of the study were to: 1) determine the prevalence of drug and substance abuse among secondary school adolescents in Thika District, 2) identity' the types of drugs and substances abused by adolescents within Thika District secondary school, 3) establish the locus of control of secondary' school adolescents in Thika District, 4) establish the relationship between adolescents’ locus of control and drug and substance abuse, and 5) find out whether there are gender differences in drug and substance abuse. The study employed cross sectional study design, targeting 200 adolescents selected from 10 secondary' schools in Ruiru division of Thika District. However, 10 adolescents did not return their questionnaires, and therefore data analysis was based on responses from 190 adolescents, which is a questionnaire return rate of 95%. Data was collected using a questionnaire. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequency counts and percentages. The study established that 112 out of 190 adolescents were abusing various drugs. Majority (59.5%) of the adolescents had internal locus of control. Those adolescents who confessed to have abused drugs had experimented on a number of drugs/substances, including alcohol (56.3%), cigarettes (46.8%), miraa (23.2%), kuber (13.2%), bhang (38.9%), tap tap (8.4%), cocaine (3.7%) and heroine. All the 190 adolescents agreed that there were adolescents in their schools who abused drugs. The most commonly abused drugs were alcohol (91.1%), cigarettes (60%), bhang (64.2%), miraa (34.2%) and kuber-tobacco (26.8%). The adolescents who abused drugs accessed them from adolescents who peddle drugs (14.2%), buying from neighbouring community' (37.9%), sneaking them to school when reopening (45.8%), buying them during school outings (8.4%), and buying from subordinate staff (1.1%). Those adolescents who abused drugs were influenced by various factors, including peer pressure (54.2%), family members (9.5%), and stress (16.3%), the need to feel high (12.6%), liking the habit (13.2%), and gaining courage to approach girls (1.6%). More boys than girls abused drugs, and adolescents with an external locus of control tended to abuse drugs more than internals. It emerges from these study findings that drug /substance abuse is quite rampant in secondary' schools, with boys being the most affected. Efforts need to be put by all concerned to curb drug and substance abuse among adolescents. It is important for counsellors to devise way's to deal with the problem of drug and substance abuse. Preventive counselling programs need to be designed targeting secondary school adolescents, as well as those out of school. The study found out that majority of those who abused drugs had external locus of control. This finding can be used by counsellors in designing preventive programmes. For instance, programmes could be designed to offer assertiveness training to adolescents, and to equip them with necessary knowledge to enable them make rational decisions in life.