Family relationships and adolescent drug use in Cameroon: a school-based cross-sectional study of prevalence, perceptions, and associated factors

The dataset contains 352 respondents and 42 variables, collected through a school-based cross-sectional survey conducted among adolescents in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

1. Sociodemographic characteristics

School – Identifier of the participating school (3 schools).

Age – Age of respondents (13–18 years).

Sex – Gender (male/female).

Education – School level (Form 3, Form 4, Form 5).

Religion / Religion_r – Religion (original and recoded).

StatusLife – Living arrangement (both parents, father only, mother only, other caregiver).

2. Knowledge and perceptions

hearing_Drugs – Whether the adolescent has heard of drugs.

Type_of_Drug – Open-ended responses on drugs known (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, tramadol).

Effects_of_Drugs – Open-ended responses on perceived effects (e.g., madness, death, courage).

Feelings facing frustration – Reported emotions when facing life’s difficulties (e.g., stress, anger).

3. Substance use behaviours

Alcohol, Marijuana, Cocaine, Solvents, Hallucinogens, Heroin, Amphetamines, Others – Self-reported use, with frequency coded on a 6-point Likert scale.

Abuse of [substance] – Binary recoding indicating abuse (≥ occasional use in the last 12 months).

Alcohol abuse – Binary indicator of alcohol abuse.

PSA_Abuse / Drug_Abuse_Score – Composite variable summarising the abuse of at least one psychoactive substance.

The abuse of at least one psychoactive substance – Main outcome variable (Yes/No).

4. Family context

Parental drug use – History of drug use among one or both parents.

Relationship with father, mother, siblings – Self-reported quality of relationship (good / not good).

StatusLife_recoded – Simplified classification of living arrangement.

5. Environmental and school context

Drug availability at home – Perceived access to drugs around the household.

Drug availability at school – Perceived access to drugs in school environment.

Guidance and counselling services – Perceived effectiveness of school services addressing drug abuse.

👉 In summary, this dataset combines sociodemographic, behavioural, familial, environmental, and perceptual variables to explore the prevalence, perceptions, and correlates of alcohol and psychoactive substance abuse among adolescents in Cameroon.