Attitudes towards Cough Syrup Abuse: A Study of Adolescents in Southwest, Nigeria

One area of substance misuse among adolescents that is currently a problem, and has not been fully understood in the Nigerian context is the attitudes of adolescents towards cough syrup abuse. Thus, to inform policy actions for reducing cough syrup abuse among Nigerian adolescents, this study explored the attitudes of adolescents towards cough syrup abuse in two Southwest states of Nigeria, where substance abuse is rampant.

By a stratified sampling method, 302 adolescents (152 males, 150 females; mean age = 13.61 years, SD = 2.09) were selected from secondary schools in Lagos and Oyo states, Nigeria, and data were collected using existing questionnaires with strong psychometric properties, and the response rate was 97.42%. Four (4) hypotheses were stated and tested using independent sample t-test and correlation statistics at p<0.05.

The findings from the study concluded that, adolescents’ age and family marital structure were the variables found that significantly accounted for their attitudes 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.