Association between School-Based Mentoring Intervention Programs and Drug Abuse Among African American Aged 10-24 Years

Abstract

Drug abuse remains a significant global public health problem having socioeconomic consequences wrought by cognitive and physiological phenomena, as well as a cluster of behavioral, physical, serious social, and emotional problems. Worldwide, adolescents and young people are at most risk of drug abuse. The predisposing factors to drug abuse among adolescents and young people include gender, age, family structure and relations, poverty, and the accessibility and affordability of drugs. This problem is common across developed and developing countries, including Nigeria This study was conducted to evaluate the association between school-based intervention programs and drug abuse among African American young people with the ages of 10 – 24 years. The theoretical framework for the study was based on the health belief model. The study utilized secondary data set from the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health for the analysis. The dependent variable was drug abuse, while the independent variable was mentoring interventions. The Chi-square analysis revealed a significant association between participation in school - based intervention programs and drug abuse [(χ2 (1, N = 3533) = 8.567, p = .003]. The observed association between drug abuse and schoolbased mentoring intervention programs suggests that other mentoring intervention programs may be modified for effectiveness, which would result in positive social change. The social implications of drug abuse among adolescents and young people, particularly undergraduates, cannot be quantified and it is one of the health related problems among and African and specifically Nigerian youth and remains a source of anxiety to various stakeholders, including the educational stakeholders. In view of the profound public health implications of these dangerous drug abuse habits among adolescents and young adults in African and Nigeria, the findings of this study may be generalized and implemented to bring about a needed social change.