Psychosocial Predictors of Drug Use Disorders among Secondary School Adolescents in Abuja, Nigeria: The Role of Emotional Neglect, Family Dysfunction, and Parental Substance Abuse / Dataset

Substance use disorder among adolescents has always been a public health concern in any epoch or setting, and though greatly differential regarding their prevalence, patterns of use, and progression to disorder by cultural, socioeconomic, and policy contexts. This study was about psychosocial predictors comprising emotional neglect, family dysfunction, and parental substance abuse against secondary school adolescents in Abuja, Nigeria. It has thus adopted the descriptive cross-sectional research design within the quantitative research approach. A sample of 275 was drawn from a population size of 965 through multistage sampling techniques. The data collection instruments included a self-developed questionnaire incorporating the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) for Emotional Neglect Subscale, an adapted Family Assessment Device (FAD), and Parental Substance Abuse Checklist. Five experts-three medical doctors and two secondary school teachers-validated the instruments. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient that finally validated using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) for Emotional Neglect Subscale stood at 0.760; hence, data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

This reveals that there has not been a day in the past year when they drank more than a few sips of alcohol. It also shows how concerning the relationship between emotional neglect and drug use disorder among secondary school students is. This study proves that the overall family dysfunction score provides very significant insights about the familial relationships observed among students, and finally, low parental substance abuse is what the study has to show.

The researchers therefore resolve that in the quest to reduce psychosocial factors related to drug use disorder among adolescents, family training on how to avoid emotional neglect should be initiated. It proposes a partnership treatment plan between mental health practitioners, teachers, and policymakers in sharing rather insightful information concerning emotional well-being that would eventually help establish more supportive conditions for adolescents.