Background: Drug abuse is becoming a public health problem in Nigeria and young people who are the most important human resource of any country are increasingly affected. Consequently, exposing them to some deviant activities like thuggery, armed robbery, cultist and high killers operating with gun without fear. School-based intervention is an appropriate approach for improving adolescents’ knowledge regarding drug abuse in an attempt to prevent or reduce such problem. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of Life Skill Programme as an intervention tool in the prevention of drug abuse among adolescents in Ikorodu Area of Lagos State Nigeria.
Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental (control and experimental group) design was carried out in Ikorodu, Lagos State. A random sampling technique was employed to recruit a sample of 287 adolescents, 141 from control group and 146 from experimental group. A semi-structured questionnaire on perception, reasons for taking drug and the effectiveness of Life Skills assessment regarding drug abuse was developed while knowledge was assessed using a standard instrument (DAST-10). All were given face validity by the project supervisor while the reliability was carried out using Cronbach alpha and yielded 0.75, which was equivalent to 75% reliability. After the initial data collection, intervention programme was administered for six weeks then follow the second data collection. SPSS version 26 was used for data entry and analysis. Data was analyzed through descriptive (frequency and percentage, and mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (analysis of covariance and analysis of variance) to compare pre-test and post-test responses of the two groups.
Results: For experimental group, the mean score of the general knowledge of adolescent increased from 5.00 to 13.08, perception, from 3.67 to 9.84, and LSP efficacy, from 2.98±58 to 15.66±1.48 while control group remains somewhat unchanged. The effect of the training shows a statistical significant different between the general knowledge, knowledge on prevention, and perception of adolescent before and after intervention at 95% CI. Also, adolescents’ intentions for abusing drug significantly related with age, gender and family structure at 95% CI.
Conclusion: This study strongly suggests that the life skills training intervention is a useful strategy in preventing drug abuse. LST can promote interactive, decision making, problem-solving, critical thinking and stress management skills and lead to more social acceptability, which in turn reduce drug abuse tendency. Hence, it is recommended that schools in collaboration with the ministry of education and health incorporate LST training in the secondary school curriculum for effective drug abuse prevention in adolescence.
Keywords: Life Skills Training, Prevention, Drug Abuse, Adolescents