Peer Pressure and Leisure Boredom as Predictors of Substance Use among Adolescents in Nkanu West Local Government Area

Abstract

The study investigated peer pressure and leisure boredom as predictors of substance use among adolescents, with one hundred and twelve (112) adolescents in Nkanu West L.G.A of Enugu State comprising 36 males and 76 females with the age range of 12-17 years (M= 14.25, SD= 16.3), was selected as participants with the aid of multi-stage (cluster, purposive and availability sampling techniques. Saini and Singh, (2016) peer pressure Scale Questionnaire-Revised PPSQ-r, Iso-Aho and Weissinger, (1987), leisure boredom scale and Berman, Berman, Palmstierna and Schlyter, (2003), the drug use disorder identification test were used for data collection. Co-relational design was adopted, while multiple regressions were used for data analysis. The finding shows that peer pressure and leisure boredom jointly and significantly predicted substance use (R=.45; F=6.88; p<.001) by accounting for about 21% (R2 = .21) of the variance in substance use. More so, independently, peer pressure (β=−.24; p<.05) predicted substance use, whereas leisure boredom did not. Hence, the findings underscore the urgency of addressing these factors in substance use prevention initiatives.