Abstract:
Drug use is a problem among students in many places in the world including Kenya. In response, there has been extensive research about the factors that contribute to drug use among students. However, studies on which of these risk factors most strongly contributes to drug use among students are sparse. Hence this area needs in-depth investigation. This study sought to examine the extent to which the family factors, peer-group influence, exposure to pro-drug mass media content and the level of self esteem contributed to the use of drugs among public day secondary school male students of Nakuru municipality, Kenya. To achieve this purpose, the ex postfacto research design was used. Multistage cluster, Probability Proportionate to Size (PPS) and purposive sampling methods were used to select the participating schools and respondents. A sample size of 327 respondents was selected from a total population of 2279 from nine sampled schools. However, 274 respondents were included in data analysis as some were eliminated due to inconsistent responses, failure to meet inclusion criterion and missing data. A questionnaire and Rosenberg self-esteem scale were used to collect data. Descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequencies, percentages, Spearrnan rank correlation coefficients, chi-square, ANOVA and regressions were used to analyze the data. Tables, cross tabulations and charts were used to present the data. All statistical tests were done at p<0.05. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) windows version 11.5 aided in data analysis. The study findings unraveled that peer- group influence had the greatest contribution (49.4%) to drug use variability while exposure to mass media had the least contribution (9.5%). The selected factors accounted for 44.1% to the total variability in drug use. School administrators, teachers and school counselors may want to consider some of the findings of this study in developing effective prevention program. The study recommended that drug use prevention programs should prioritize its efforts and resources according to the strength of contribution of the risk factors to drug use among students.
