Influence of Drug and Substance Abuse and Academic Performance among Students in Secondary School in Gatanga Sub County, Kenya

Influence of Drug and Substance Abuse and Academic Performance among Students in Secondary School in Gatanga Sub County, Kenya

Lily Alulu, Dr. Priscilla Gachigi, Emily Okoth, Dr. Susan Ngunu

KCA University, Kenya

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2023.701084

Received: 11 September 2023; Revised: 29 September 2023; Accepted: 03 October 2023; Published: 06 November 2023

ABSTRACT

The study sought to establish influence of drug and substance abuse among students in secondary school in Gatanga Sub County, Kenya. The study was guided by the socio-cognitive theory by Bandura (1994) which focuses on social influence on others behavior. The study employed correlation research design. The sample size consisted of 336 individuals and 17 schools. Stratified sampling was used to select the 17 schools; purposive sampling selected the 17 principals and the 2 education officials, while random sampling was used to select the 306 students and the11 guidance and counselling teachers. A pilot study was conducted in 2 secondary schools in Gatanga Sub County. Primary information from the 306 students was obtained by use of questionnaires, while an interview schedule was used for the 11 teachers of guidance and counselling, 17 principals and 2 education officials. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software program where descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means and standard deviation and inferential statistics which included regression and correlation analysis were computed. The findings were presented in tables and figures. The study revealed that an increase in influence of drugs and substance abuse would result to a decrease in academic performance of secondary school students. There is need to identify the influence of drug and substance abuse among students. It is also important to understand the students and their backgrounds. Others have issues beyond them such as genetics while others don’t have a support system or suffer from mental illnesses such as depression.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Drug and substance abuse is a worldwide problem that affects a majority of the population. Most countries of the world are experiencing challenges of drug and substance abuse among their population and especially among the young people. Drug and substance abuse involves using chemical materials that alter an individual’s physical, mental, psychological and social state which result in severe bodily bleak outcome of the users (NACADA, 2012). Bhang (cannabis sativa), heroine, mandrax, cocaine, and chang’aa (illicit brew) are some of the illegal substances that are legally prohibited in relation to their consumption, ownership or sale (NACADA, 2012). Drug and substance abuse has been a global threat to different nations since it greatly affects the social and economic growth of the young population as well as the national development due to the negative effects experienced such as crime, unproductivity and poor academic performance in learning institutions (UNODC, 2011).Various analysts have ascertained that drug and substance use amid teenagers may lead to poor physical health as well as terrible social implications .This includes; drug related diseases like lung cancer and liver cirrhosis, murder, self-destruction, hopelessness and increased sexual appetite that leads to transmission and contracting of S.T.Ds. In addition, substance use has been reported to contribute to increased school dropout, joblessness and poverty which greatly impacts on the gross national income of a nation (Rezahosseini, Roohbakhsh, Tavakolian & Assar 2014).

The World Drug Report (2014) states that in the global perspective,5% of the population in the world between the ages of 15 to 64 years abused one type of drug in 2014.These were people within the most productive age group in our society, with the world greatly depending on them to drive the economy. The number stated was equivalent to a quarter of a billion which comprised of a population of several countries including: France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom with 207,400 subjected to drug related deaths (UNODC, 2016a). The drug abusers according to the report experienced negative effects such as psycho-social, economic and physiological development problems.

In Iran, majority of high school students consumed alcohol and tobacco at rates of 9.9% and 4.4% respectively on a daily basis (Momtazi & Rawson, 2010]. Consequently, most of the high schoolers were addicts and found it difficult to stop using drugs. Addiction affected the cognitive and social aspect of these students hence triggering them into involvement in the use and abuse of other drugs like opium which increased the risk of early school drop-out and involvement in other deviate behaviors in the school environment (Momtazi & Rawson, 2010).

In Africa, the effects of drug abuse are also considered to affect a huge population, with an approximation of 28 million drug users and an estimation of 37,000 people dying from drug abuse related diseases (United Nations, 2013). Therefore, the young population is majorly vulnerable to the illegal drug industry with 56% of the populace between 14-19 years comprising of students in secondary schools (United Nations, 2013). The report further explained that the drug intake among the young population has affected their academic performance with majority of them dropping out of school. This has adverse effect on economic development. Studies on prevalence and factors contributing to the use of substance among students in secondary school in rural areas in South Africa show that a large number of the learners were involved in the substance abuse with 94% male and 98% female; of this 63% male and 50% female were addicted (Tshitangano & Tosin 2016). Further, the study indicates that the addicted students recorded lower grades in their academic performance and had high rates of absence from school and other school activities. The     influence of substance abuse were associated with easy accessibility from the user’s communities or villages hence students in rural areas in secondary school have high frequency rates of abusing substance, therefore performing poorly academically as compared to the urban secondary school learners (Tshitangano & Tosin, 2016).

In Kenya, several studies have been conducted to ascertain the depth of the drug pandemic in secondary schools. For instance, the NACADA (2012) survey report indicated that the abuse of drug and substance amid the youth and learners in high school is enormous. Studies further indicate that alcohol, tobacco, Miraa and bhang are the commonly drugs that are abused with bhang ranked as the most available drug in the country at 46%. Most male students’ abuse drugs as compared to their female counterparts. The percentage of male drug abusers is reported as 60% while the female was at 40% (Muthoka, 2015). Further, parental influence and personal negligence influenced drug abuse among students. Most students from families with a history of domestic violence are prone to abuse drugs and this greatly decreased their productivity in academics leading to poor performance (Munyoki 2008).

Several reports on the abuse of drug and substance have been recorded in Murang’a County. For instance, Consumption of inhalants such as glue and cigarette is reported to have increased at a high rate among high school learners in Murang’a County. Accessibility of illicit brew by these students is due to the practice of smuggling them into the school compound through use of different strategies adopted. As a result, students attend lessons when they are intoxicated hence no meaningful learning would take place. (Kyalo & Mbugua, 2011)

In Gatanga sub-county, the abuse of drug and substance amid the young people and especially those in high schools has become a great threat not only to the education sector but also to the society as a whole. The NACADA (2010) report observed that 52% of people living in Murang’a as a whole had taken alcohol at one time. Furthermore, a population exceeding 80% was very much perturbed about the misuse of illegal alcohol in Gatanga sub-county among them the local politicians (KNA, 2018).

In Murang’a County, the education stakeholders are concerned about the learner’s academic achievements in Gatanga Sub County. Statistics at the county director’s office show that Gatanga sub-county has repeatedly performed poorly in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in comparison with the other sub-counties in the county (KNA 2018). This poor performance has been attributed to many things among them the adverse use of drug and substance among High school students in Gatanga sub-county (KNA 2018).

Statement of the Problem

Education plays a fundamental role in the life of youths in Kenya. Despite the fact that the government of Kenya and other drug and substance control agencies have put several measures and strategies in place to ensure that the control and prevention of drug and substance abuse, their use has continued unabated especially so among secondary school students. This implies that the academic performance of the students continues to face a great challenge which might be attributed to the influence of the drug and substance use.

Students who abuse drugs and substances face problems like academic challenges, health-linked issues, poor relationships with their peers and poor family relationships. Further, drug and substance abuse greatly contribute to risky behavior that leads to disruption in schools including: students’ strikes, burning of schools and students drop out in large numbers. These interfere with the academic performance of the students due to changes made in their physiological, psychological and emotional functioning. In addition, administrative strategies like punishment and expulsion of the students, adopted by the head teachers in eliminating the drug and substance abuse among the secondary school students are rendered ineffective. To the society students using drug and substances usually disengage from activities in the communities. This deprives the society the positive contributions they would otherwise have made.

Murang’a County is one of the regions mostly affected by drug and substance abuse. The involvement in drug and substance abuse by the secondary school students therefore might be considered to contribute to poor academic performance, school dropout and sexual violence practices hence requiring appropriate intervention strategies. Several studies have been undertaken to establish the influence of poor academic performance but a solution is yet to be found. Studies have cited several deviant behaviors analyzed in secondary schools including strikes, bullying, drug abuse and absenteeism which greatly affected the academic performance of the students.

The continued low academic performance in the Kenya National examinations (K.C.S.E) of students in Gatanga sub-county as compared to performance of other students in the other sub- counties in Murang’a county in the last consecutive 3 years derived the need to find out influence of drug and substance abuse among students in secondary school in Gatanga Sub County, Kenya.

Objectives of the Study

To determine the influence of drug and substance abuse among students in secondary school in Gatanga Sub County, Kenya.

Research Hypotheses

H1: There is a statistically significant relationship between influence of drugs and substance abuse and academic performance among secondary school students in Gatanga Sub County, Murang’a County, Kenya.

EMPIRICAL LITERATURE REVIEW

Influence of Drug and Substance Abuse in Secondary School Students

There are a wide range of drug abuse influence amid young people and these may either directly or indirectly affect their academic performance. In Europe, Kokkevi et al. (2007) study’s on the psychological influence and environmental factors on substance use by adolescents in six European countries, a sample of 16,445 high school students aged 16 years from Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, and the United Kingdom was selected using a cross-sectional sectional survey. This study focused majorly on tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and other illegal drugs use. The findings indicated that the abuse of drug and substance among learners was caused by peer influence and older sibling’s influence. Alcohol influence ranged between 2.5 -3.6% and 2.3-3.5% respectively. Smoking of tobacco on the other hand was influenced by the peers and this was indicated by 3.3 % for boys and 3.0% for girls. The study focused on data collection based on the information provided by the students and ignored the valuable information provided by the key informants such as the parents, head teachers and other key stakeholders in the education stakeholders who possess more knowledge on the abuse of substance and drugs among high school students.

Further, Mohasoa and Mokoena (2017) carried out a study in South Africa on factors contributing to drug use by adolescents in the public secondary schools. A sample of secondary schools in northwest province in South Africa were selected using purposive sampling. (12) Male adolescents were selected. From the findings, it was found out that social and economic factors were the major contributing factors in the drug use among the male students which included: nature of social association of the students, accessibility of the students to money and the economic status of the family. The study indicates that the control of the influence of socio and economic factors is very important in improving the academic performance of the students in the secondary school level. The study sampled only male students and failed to include the female students who are also important in contributing to a meaningful analysis on the state of substance and drug among the learners in the public secondary schools, the findings of the study only indicated limited number of factors and ignored the school related factors in influencing the student’s substance and drug abuse.

In Kenya, a study carried by Marais and Maithya (2008) on the current trend of drug abuse among students in Kenya secondary schools with focus of Machakos county based on a sample of 46 respondents comprising of students, teachers and parents in the sampled schools using a descriptive survey technique. Data was analyzed using qualitative and quantitative techniques. The major influence of substance and drug use were identified to be the influence of family members using drugs and the easy accessibility of the drugs to the students. Families where parents were drug abusers easily influenced their children into using drugs. The study focused on one county to provide results on the general overview on the influence of drug and substance abuse among students which provides insufficient evidence on the findings required to give conclusive results in Kenya. The literature reviewed has clearly shown that drug and substance abuse among students in secondary school influence negative effect on their academic performance.

THEORETICAL REVIEW

This study was guided by the socio-cognitive theory by Bandura (1994) which focuses on social influence on others behavior, whereby the influence of the behavior chosen determines the level of personal development. The social influences operating in selected environment continue to promote competitive advantage, norms and interests in making decisions which have a long term effect (Bandura, 2009). This relates to the social environments that the students are exposed to which determines their behavior and decision making on drug and substance abuse.

Applied to this study, this theory supports human beings desire for comfort and avoidance of circumstances that deny them satisfaction in life or lead them to suffer since the origin of the theory is based on biological factors (Abrams, 2008). In this case the students’ behavior is influenced by the need to avoid the involvement in drug and substance abuse which would contribute to negative influence, expulsion from school, suspension and other forms of punishment which would lead to negative consequences in their life hence denying them comfort and freedom.

The socio-cognitive theory also focuses on self-efficacy principles which determine the confidence built by human beings in achieving the expected results despite the fact that several constraints are encountered in the process of controlling the drug and substance abuse among the secondary students (Bandura, 2009). The self-efficacy aspects enable the students to achieve the best results in academics despite the external pressures from the social influences caused by the drug and substance abuse from the peers and the surrounding environment. This theory therefore, helps in providing valuable principles such as the self-efficacy guidelines which are essential in guiding and providing direction to the students through enhancing behavior change to enable them to shy away from involvement in drug and substance abuse.

Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework refers to a brief description of the phenomenon under study, accompanied by a graphic representation of the major variables of the study (Mugenda, 2008). In this study, the independent variables are: influence of drug and substance abuse while the dependent variable will include students’ academic performance as shown in figure 1;

Dependent Variables         Intervening Variables          Dependent Variable

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

This study assumes that influence of drug and substance abuse affects academic performance of students. The influence of drug and substance abuse that were considered in this study included: parental influence, the social and economic status of the students, the easy accessibility to drugs and conditions available in controlling the practice within the school environment.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study has adopted the correlational research design. This design describes in quantitative terms the degree to which variables are related (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003). The correlation research design was used for this study where the students’ academic performance which is the dependent variable was assessed against the independent variable influence of drugs and substance abuse.

The study was carried out in the Sub County of Gatanga, Murang’a County. This is due to the continued poor performance academically of students in the Sub County

The study target population was drawn from Gatanga Sub County. The target population of this study therefore included secondary school principals; form three learners, teachers of guidance and counseling & ministry of education officials. The study targeted students in form three in the 55 high schools in the sub county of Gatanga and their respective guidance and counselling teachers because the form 3s have stayed in the school environment for long enough and they know the drug trends, availability and accessibility of the same.

Table 1: Target Population.

Source: Researcher (2020)

Student’s total population is 3060 in the sampled 55 schools, 55 principals, 110 teachers of guidance and counselling & 2 education officials in Gatanga Sub County. It is recommended that the minimum sample of a small population is 30% while 10% for a big population (Gay, 2009). Therefore, 30% of the total number of schools in Gatanga sub-County and 10% of each target population was computed to give a total sample of 336 individuals and 17 schools as shown in table 2.

The key respondents for the study were selected using Stratified sampling. (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003) defined stratified sampling as dividing the population into smaller groups called strata whereby Samples are then pulled from these strata. The population was therefore divided into 4 strata consisting of: Boys’ boarding schools, girls’ boarding schools, mixed boarding schools and Mixed Day schools in Gatanga sub-County. There are 55 secondary schools in Gatanga Sub County; 4 boy’s boarding schools, 9 girls boarding schools, 3 Mixed (both boys and girls) boarding schools and 39 mixed (both boys and girls) Day schools (MOEST, 2019).

Proportionate sampling was used to determine the ratio of the population in each stratum as follows; Two boys boarding schools, three girls’ boarding schools, one mixed boarding school and eleven mixed day school will be used as respondents. Seventeen (17) schools comprising 30 % of 55 schools in Gatanga Sub County were sampled for the study. The students and guidance and counselling teachers were selected using simple random sampling while the 17 schools and 17 principals were selected using purposive sampling. In each school, 18 form three students consisting of 9 girls and 9 boys were selected randomly constituting of a total of 306 students. 11 Guidance and counselling teachers were also selected using simple random sampling. The sample size therefore consisted of 17 school principals,11 guidance and counselling teachers,306 form three students and 2 Gatanga Sub County education officers a total of 336 respondents as shown in table 2.

Table 2: Sample Size

The study used questionnaire and an interview schedule to collect data. Primary information from the 306 secondary school students was obtained by use of a designed questionnaire formulated from the variables under study. The questionnaire had closed and open-ended questions.  To add to the questionnaire, an interview schedule was used to collect primary data from 11 teachers of guidance and counselling, 17 school principals and 2 education officials in Gatanga Sub County. The researcher self-administered the interview schedule.

Prior to the actual study, a pilot study was conducted in 2 High schools in the sub county of Gatanga. The two schools chosen were not part of the actual study. The function of the pilot study was to determine the validity of the research instruments. The validity of the data collection instruments in this research majorly depended on the opinion of the University supervisor. The questionnaires were improved depending on the guidance and recommendation of the supervisor.

Test re-test technique during the pilot study was used to intensify reliability. The researcher carried out pretesting in 2 Gatanga sub-County secondary schools whereby the questionnaires and interviews were administered twice to the same group after an interval of one and a half weeks. Moreover, to determine internal consistency reliability, Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha was applied. Kombo Tromp (2006) states that quality reliability as well as internal consistent depicts alpha value of 0.7 or higher. From the findings drug and substance abuse Intervention strategies had an alpha value of 0.814, and Students’ academic performance had an alpha value of 0.763. Based on these findings, the variables had Cronbach alpha values greater than 0.7 and indication that they were all reliable and could be used for further data collection.

An introductory letter was received from the school of Graduate which assisted in acquiring a research permit from NACOSTI. Secondly, a meeting was sought with the Gatanga sub-County education officer to affirm their intention on doing the study and to clarify the significant of the research and the commitment required from the secondary head teachers in secondary schools in Gatanga Sub County.

During the third phase the principals in the Sub County of Gatanga was briefed before data collection. During the process, the study motive and the study scope was communicated to the respondents randomly picked in the school based on the stratified random sampling technique.

The study used quantitative as well as qualitative techniques. Qualitative analyzed the respondents’ open-ended questions whereby it categorized and combined responses to address the research questions in theme form. On quantitative, summarized data was presented using descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages. Correlation coefficients were used to test the non-causal relationship (Correlation) between variables while regression analysis was used to test the research hypotheses at 5% significance level with the aid of SPSS version 25 as a tool for data analysis. The results were presented using tables and discussions where necessary. Hypotheses formulated were tested to examine the causal relationship between the dependent and independent variable. The null hypotheses were analyzed as follows;

Ho: There is no statistical significant relationship between influence of drugs and substance abuse and academic performance of secondary school students in Gatanga Sub County, Murang’a County, Kenya.: Statistical test -Pearson product moment correlation coefficient

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The study targeted 336 respondents. 17 school principals, 11 guidance and counselling teachers, 306 form three students, and 2 Gatanga Sub County education officers. The 306 students were issued with questionnaires but only 274(89.5%) questionnaires were received back having been dully filled. The researcher scheduled interviews with the rest of the respondents. The researcher was however successful in interviewing 15 school principals, 10 guidance and counselling teachers, and all 2(100%) of Gatanga Sub County education officers. The response rates as presented in Table 3 were all above 70%. As explained by Mugenda and Mugenda (2013) a rate of response is 50% and above can be used for analysis and reporting, if the response rate is 70% and above it is excellent. Therefore, the response rate was considered excellent and adequate for data analysis purposes.

Table 3: Response Rate

Influence of Drug and Substance Abuse and Their Effect on Academic Performance of Students Students Opinion on Influence of Drug and Substance Abuse

Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which tabled factors affect the academic performance of the students in their school. Table 4 presents the findings obtained.

Table 4: Extent to which Factors Affecting Academic Performance

The findings presented in Table 4, show that 212(77.4%) of the students indicated that easy accessibility to drugs affects student academic performance to an average extent, 201(73.4%) indicated the influence of school environment conditions was average, 217(79.2%) indicated social and economic status had average influence on academic performance, 196(71.5%) indicated the effect of parental influence was average, and 187(68.2%) indicated level of school dropout was affected to an average extent. These findings suggest that academic performance of students is affected to an average extent by several factors. Easy access to drugs is the leading factor that contributes to drug use. The environment the students are exposed to both at school and at home also influences their drug use. This can suggest that it is the effort of the community, the school and the individual students to deal with the issue of drug abuse in secondary schools.

Since school environment has average influence on students’ use of drugs, Students were asked to indicate what they think are the factors that influence student’s involvement in drug and substance abuse and how it affects their academic performance. Students explained that in school, the company one associates with will determine whether they will end up using drugs. The sense of belonging and feeling connected to a group of friends has led many students to abuse drugs. In schools, drugs are available and therefore exposure to drugs easily leads to their abuse. Another reason is being bullied and feeling lonely. When students start feeling that they are alone, they become prone to drugs and can easily get addicted. Some students feel that the use of drugs will help them deal with the difficult situations they are exposed to both in school and at home.

Interviewees Opinion on Influence of Drug and Substance Abuse

Based on the available records in the school, Principals and guidance and counselling teachers agreed that drug and substance abuse has been a prevailing issue. They were also asked to indicate what factors contributed to the long period of prevalence. They cited peer pressure to be the major challenge. For instance, when students enroll into school, they find their peers in the upper classes using drugs and therefore they are influenced or forced to use them and as a result the cycle continues. Media influence is another challenge. They explained that with technology, students are exposed to a lot of unhealthy content on social media where people are found to be praising and bragging on the use of drugs. Curiosity is also another influence; students in high schools are in their teenage years and they are curious to experiment various things in life and drugs isn’t an exemption. Stress is another influence; students like any human being have things that stress them in life. It could range from personal issues like body image, family issues like broken families or even love life, heart breaks, etc.

From the guidance and counseling expertise, the background of the affected students greatly influences their use of drugs. Most students in Gatanga sub-county live within the county of Murang’a which is famous for its alcohol problem. They explained that the environment plays a significant influence on drugs and substance abuse. Students who are exposed to drugs have a high chance of being victims of drug abuse than their peers who are less exposed. Also, teenagers often feel a social imperative to experiment and experience all that they can while they are still young. They feel like it won’t be a big deal if they try everything. Genetics is another influence; most people fail to understand that genetic constitution of an individual plays a significant role in their tendency to abuse drugs and substance. If there is a family history of drug addiction or alcoholism, teenagers may be genetically predisposed to experiment with drugs and alcohol and become addicted. In such as case, they can’t be blamed for their genes, especially if they haven’t been educated. This therefore calls for the need to educate them on the effects of drug and substance abuse so that they can make wise choices.

Sub-county educators agreed with the above-mentioned influence of prolonged drug and substance abuse in the sub-county. They however added that the schools should also be blamed for contributing to the challenge. They explained that schools often chose to deal with the challenge by expelling or suspending the student. This does not resolve the issue because the root influence of the abuse hasn’t been identified. They also explained that most schools do not have enough security and therefore students easily sneak to buy drugs. The community also contributes because they are the ones who supply those students with drugs and in other cases help them sneak in and out of the school. Parents also neglect their children. They explained that the issue of drug abuse starts during school holidays; parents don’t keep an eye on their children when on holiday, who they interact with, and what they do. During holiday season, students interact with various people and due to peer pressure and the need to belong to a group, they tend to fall into the trap and become addicts to drug and substance abuse.

Correlation between Influence of Drug and Substance Abuse and Academic Performance

The study computed correlation analysis between prevalence of drug and substance abuse and academic performance of the students. The relationship was considered to be: small if ±0.1 <r<

±0.29; medium if ±0.3 <r< ±0.49; and strong if r> ±0.5. Table 5 presents the findings obtained.

Table 5: Correlation Analysis between Influence of Drug and Substance Abuse and Academic Performance

From the findings in Table 5, the relationship between influence of drug and substance abuse and performance has a strong negative and significant influence (r=-0.729, r=0.000). The relationship was considered significant because the p-value was less than the significance level (0.05). This suggests that there is significant relationship between influence of drug and substance abuse and academic performance. To further understand the relationship, the study computed regression analysis.

Regression Analysis on Influence of Drug and Substance Abuse and Academic Performance

The objective of the study was to determine the influence of drug and substance abuse among students in secondary school in Gatanga Sub County, Kenya. The study therefore regressed influence of drug and substance abuse with academic performance and the findings were as presented here- under.

The study used model summary to show the amount of variation in academic performance as a result of changes in influence of drug and substance abuse. Table 6 presents the findings.

Table 6: Model Summary for Prevalence of Drug and Substance Abuse and Academic Performance

From the findings in Table 6, the value of adjusted R square was 0.530 which suggests that 53% variation in academic performance among secondary school students in Gatanga Sub County can be explained by changes in influence of drug and substance abuse. The remaining 47% suggests that there are other factors that can be attributed to variation in academic performance among secondary school students in Gatanga Sub County that were not discussed in this model. Correlation coefficient (R) shows the relationship strength between the study variables. From the findings academic performance and influence of drug and substance abuse were strongly related as indicated r= 0.729.

Table 7: Analysis of Variance for Prevalence of Drug and Substance Abuse and Academic Performance

1. Dependent Variable: Academic Performance
2. Predictors: (Constant), Influence

From the ANOVA table, the p-value obtained was 0.000 which is less than the selected significance level of 0.05 which suggests that the model was significant. Therefore, the data was ideal for making a conclusion on the population parameters. F-critical value (3.875), obtained from F-distribution tables, was less than the F-calculated value (309.268). Since the F-calculated value was greater than the F-critical value, it suggests that influence of drug and substance abuse was significant in predicting academic performance among secondary school students in Gatanga Sub County, Murang’a County, Kenya.

The coefficients values in Table 8 were used to fit the regression model. The findings were also used to test the research hypothesis where the null hypothesis was rejected if the p-value was less than 0.05, i.e. p<0.05=reject null hypothesis and accept the alternative; p ≥0.05= accept the null hypothesis.

Table 8: Beta Coefficients for Influence of Drug and Substance Abuse and Academic Performance

From the findings in Table 8, the following regression model was fitted:

Y = 6.510 – 0.720 Influence + Ɛ

From the regression equation, when influence of drugs and substance abuse is held to a constant zero, academic performance among secondary school students in Gatanga Sub County will be at a constant value of 6.510.

The findings also show that the influence of influence of drugs and substance abuse on academic performance of students was negative (β=-0.720). The findings also show that the p-value (0.000) was less than the selected level of significance (0.05). This therefore suggests that the influence of influence of drugs and substance abuse was significant. We therefore reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative that: There is statistically significant relationship between influence of drugs and substance abuse and academic performance of secondary school students in Gatanga Sub County, Murang’a County, Kenya. The study findings agree with those of Mohasoa and Mokoena (2017) that social and economic factors were the major contributing factors in the drug use among students and thus suggested that control of the influence of socio and economic factors is very important in improving the academic performance of the students in the secondary school level.

CONCLUSIONS

The study found the influence of influence of drugs and substance abuse on academic performance of students to be negative. The study also established that p-value was less than the selected level of significance which suggested that the influence of influence of drugs and substance abuse was significant. This means that an increase in influence of drugs and substance abuse would result to a decrease in academic performance of secondary school students. From the findings, the study concludes there is statistically significant relationship between influence of drugs and substance abuse and academic performance of secondary school students in Gatanga Sub County, Murang’a County, Kenya.

RECOMMENDATIONS

There is need to identify the influence of drug and substance abuse among students. It is also important to understand the students and their backgrounds. Others have issues beyond them such as genetics while others don’t have a support system or suffer from mental illnesses such as depression. The study recommends the use of psychosocial interventions in treatment of drug and substance abuse among students. These interventions include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), contingency management, motivational interviewing, relapse prevention, brief interventions and family-based interventions.

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