SUBSTANCE ABUSE AS A PREDICTOR OF SCHOOL OUTCOMES AND PSYCHOSOCIALWELLBEING AMONG FEDERAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

 Recent reports indicate a steady increase in the use of drugs among students in Nigerian universities.
Substances such as cocaine, tramadol, marijuana, codeine, alcohol and other substances are used
by students not only for recreational purposes but to cope with the stress and rigours of academic
life. This growing trend raises concerns about the effects of these drug uses on the overall wellbeing
of the students. This study therefore explored substance abuse as a predictor of school outcomes and
psychosocial wellbeing among university students in Anambra State. The study was guided by three
research questions and three hypotheses. The study adopted the correlation research design. The
population of the study comprised all the undergraduates for the 2024/2025 academic session in the
federal university in Anambra State. A total of 493 university students obtained through a Purposive
sampling technique made up the sample for the study. Four sets of instruments were used for data
collection: Substance Abuse Questionnaire (SAQ), School Outcomes Questionnaire (SOQ),
Psychological Well-being Questionnaire (PWQ), and Social Wellbeing Questionnaire (SWQ). These
instruments were researcher-constructed, and their validated by experts in the field of Education.
The reliability of the instruments was determined using the Cronbach Alpha method and they yielded
alpha coefficient indices of 0.71, 0.70, 0.69 and 0.77 for SAQ, SOQ, and PWQ and SWQ respectively.
Data collected for the study were analyzed using the co-efficient of determination was used to answer
research questions and while simple linear regression analysis was used to test the null hypotheses.
The study revealed a significant positive correlation between substance abuse and each of the
independent variables: school outcomes, psychological and social wellbeing of university students
in Anambra State. The study concluded that substance abuse is a significant predictor of school
outcomes and psychosocial well-being of university students. The need to address substance abuse
among undergraduates in Anambra State was recommended among others.