Jyoti Kukreti*, Gurjyot Kaur, Suchpreet Kaur, NL Gupta and Neelam Kaur
Introduction: Substances abuse, a major public health problem affects our society on different levels. Substance
abuse directly effects adolescents particularly students this will increase physical health problems, dysfunctional social
relationships, suicidal tendencies, mental illness and even lower life expectancy in adolescence and the another
fact is the age of initiation which is progressively declining In the most serious cases, harmful use of drugs can lead
to a cycle in which damaged socioeconomic standing and ability to develop relationships feed substance use. Study
was carried out to assess the prevalence and pattern of substance abuse among senior secondary school students
in South Delhi.
Objectives: To determines the prevalence of substance abuse among senior secondary school students. To assess the
pattern of substance abuse among senior secondary school students. To find out the association between substances
use and socio demographic variables of the students.
Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 396 students (13 years-18 years) from 9th
and 11th class in South Delhi, chosen by stratified random sampling techniques, using the self-administered questionnaire.
Results: The finding of the study reported that the overall prevalence of substance abuse is 42%. Alcohol 59.9% is
the most common substance abused by the students followed by tobacco 22.8% inhalants 14.4% and pharmaceutical 3.0%. The causes of initiation of substance abuse; each of the 27.0% respondents showed Peer pressure and
Curiosity as the main reason of initiation of substance abuse then enjoyment 22.9%, failure in love 7.6%, casual
3.2%, adulthood 3.2%, family problem 2.5%, easy availability 1.3%,the maximum age group of initiation of substance
abuse was between 13 years-15 years of age. Monthly family income of their parents was shown to have a statistical
significant relationship with substance abuse of the respondents (χ2=14.716, df=5, p<0.001).
Published Date: 2022-08-31; Received Date: 2020-01-22
