Predicting Substance Abuse in a Sample of Nigerian Undergraduate Students: The Role of Core Self-evaluations and Delay of Gratification

Abstract

Documented empirical evidence indicates that substance abuse among young people, especially students, is assuming an unprecedented upward surge worldwide. Substance abuse among students is associated with a myriad of negative physical, social and psychological consequences, including liver, cranial, and cardiovascular diseases, cancers, vehicular fatalities, mental and behaviour disorders, violence, declining grades, increased potential for dropout and high truancy rates, suicides, homicides, and accidental injuries. Indeed, substance abuse is now considered a leading cause of preventable deaths in many countries of the word. Although there is preponderance of studies on substance abuse among students, there is lack studies on personality and demographic factors. In this cross-sectional survey, we explored the extent to which capacity to delay gratification, core self-evaluations and demographic variable would predict substance use among students (n=325) of a state-owned, non-residential Nigerian university. A structured questionnaire was used to collect relevant data. Results of multiple regression showed that a combination of the predictor variables jointly predicted substance abuse by accounting for about 22% of its variance. Independently, gender, age, family background (β=.23; p<.01), birth order, delayed gratification and core self-evaluations predicted substance abuse. It was recommended that youths should be taught the benefits inherent in delaying gratification. Psycho-educational and skill-building programmes should be used to re-orient students about substance abuse.

Parenting Styles and Peer-Pressure as Predictors of Substance Abuse among University Students

“…This finding of the present study lend support to earlier positions researchers (3,5,8,10,14,27), who reported that male students were, by far, more likely than their female counterparts to abuse substances and justify such behaviour as a means of coping with the stresses and challenges of school work. Additionally, cultural factors may also explain why males abuse substances more than females.…”

“…As noted by (14), younger students may not be as capable of exerting control over their substance use behaviours as their colleagues who are "more mature". Moreover, it is quite possible that the excitement of leaving home/parents for a "freer environment" might be too much for the younger students to control.…”

“…Several studies have reported alarming rates of substance abuse in student populations (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22). The university experience is unique as it provides students with the first opportunity to be part of a larger group of peers without parental supervision.…”

In the Eye of the Beholder: Alcohol Use and Perceptions Among Student-Patrons of ‘Joints’ in Three Nigerian University Communities

“…The Canadian Center on Substance Abuse (2010), for instance, reported that Canadian undergraduate students were more than three time as likely to engage in weekly risky drinking as the general population. Abikoye and Adekoya (2010) found that about one-thirds of the respondents in their study (Nigerian university students) reported hazardous drinking patterns. It has been reported that 40% of undergraduates engaged in heavy drinking (Johnston et al 2006) and that college students had more occasions of heavy drinking within the past 30 days than non-college students of the same age (Johnston et al 2006).…”

Use of mixed methods designs in substance research: a methodological necessity in Nigeria

“…Why alcohol is a sensitive issue in Nigeria, is because young people and women are culturally restrained from alcohol consumption in many communities. For example, they were excluded from alcohol consumption in the traditional epoch due to sociocultural or religious constraints (Odejide et al 1987), but in contemporary Nigeria, this group is drinking hazardously with diverse frightening motives (Abikoye and Adekoya 2010;Chikere and Mayowa 2011;Abayomi et al 2013). Because of this paradigm shift in alcohol consumption among young people and women in Nigeria, many alcohol-related problems that hitherto did not exist between 1960 and 1990s are extant in contemporary Nigeria, and many of these phenomena may not be properly addressed with a single method, especially ''quantitative fixed-choice'' design that often fails to capture the social theme of any inquiry (Silverman 2011, p.166).…”