KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE AMONGFEMALE SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN BENINCITY

Various research works by experts and relevant national and international organizations have consistently revealed the dangerous rising case of drug use among youths in the country and the negative health complications it has resulted to. Globally, the harmful use of alcohol alone has been estimated to result in about 3.3 million deaths each year and at least 15.3 million persons worldwide have been documented to be suffering from drug use disorders (WHO, Substance Abuse, 2014). Substance abuse refers to the use of psychoactive substances, that creates pleasurable effect on the brain, on the other hand, substance misuse is the use of a substance for a purpose not consistent with legal or medical guidelines (WHO,2006). Aims and objections: This study determined the knowledge and attitude of female secondary school students to drug abuse, factors that affect the use of substances, and possible ways of preventing substance use. Method: A descriptive research method was adopted for the study and a simple random sampling technique was used to select the respondents for the study. Asemi-structured questionnaire was the instrument utilized for this research to obtain information from respondents. The questionnaire was administered to a total of 500students from four selected female secondary schools via convenient sampling technique. Participants included for the study were those who had knowledge of the topic and were above 12 years of age. The data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics like percentage, means etc. Results: The findings of the research among participants revealed that majority of respondents had knowledge of substance abuse and a negative attitude to its use by and around them. The findings also revealed that the main contributing factors to substance use were depression, peer pressure, availability of the substance and
environmental influence. It was, however, recommended among others that secondary school curriculum be designed to provide basic knowledge of substance abuse as well as adverts and enlightenment programs on the dangers of substance abuse should be made public by the government and school authorities as ways of preventing substance abuse. Conclusion: The study revealed that the respondents had a good knowledge of substance abuse and its effect, their attitude was negative to its use, various factors that contribute to substance use and recommendations to prevent further abuse of substances were provided. Key words: Substance abuse, substance misuse, drugs, knowledge, attitude