Mental Disorders and Illness

Background: One area of substance abuse among adolescents that has not been

fully understood in the Nigerian context is the attitude of adolescents towards

cough syrup abuse, as most related studies were either focused on attitude

towards general substance abuse or substances other than cough syrup.

Objective: The main objective of this research explored the attitudes of

adolescents towards cough syrup abuse in Southwest Nigeria.

Methods: By a stratifi ed sampling method, 302 participants (152 males, 150

females; mean age=13.61 years, SD=2.09) were selected from secondary schools in Oyo state and Lagos state, Nigeria, and data were collected using standardized questionnaires. Guided by literature review, four hypotheses were stated and tested using t-test and correlation statistics.

Results: Findings indicated that male and female adolescents did not signifi cantly differ in their attitude towards cough syrup abuse (t=-16.68; DF=300; P>.05). Further results showed that, there was a signifi cant positive relationship between adolescents’ age and their attitude towards cough syrup abuse (r=.21; DF=300; P<.01). Another result showed that, adolescents from polygamous family reported signifi cantly higher positive attitude towards cough syrup abuse than their counterparts from monogamous family (t=-18.98; DF=300; P<.05). The last finding showed that adolescents in Oyo state and Lagos state did not signifi cantly differ in their attitude towards cough syrup abuse (t=.03; DF=300; P>.05).

Conclusion: Adolescents’ age and family marital structure are the variables

found in this research that signifi cantly accounts for their attitude towards

cough syrup abuse, thus, it is imperative enough that as adolescents are growing older, they are rightly guided against giving into substance abuse. Also, parents/ caregivers of adolescents need to be actively involved in educating adolescents on the hazards associated with substance abuse.