The Effectiveness of an Empowerment Education Intervention for Substance Use Reduction among Inner-City Adolescents in Nigeria

Hassana Shuaibu Ojonuba, Haliza Abdul Rahman (), Zeinab Zaremohzzabieh and Nor Afiah Mohd Zulkefli
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Hassana Shuaibu Ojonuba: Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia
Haliza Abdul Rahman: Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia
Zeinab Zaremohzzabieh: Institute for Social Science Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia
Nor Afiah Mohd Zulkefli: Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: (1) Background: Substance use among inner-city adolescents is at an alarming rate in Nigeria. Despite their high exposure to this risk, limited experimental tests have been conducted on prevention programs. (2) Methods: This study investigates the effectiveness of an empowerment education intervention in reducing the risk of substance use in Abuja’s inner-city adolescents. Random selection placed adolescents into intervention and control conditions, and assessment was conducted at baseline, post-test, and 3-months follow-up intervention. After pre-test, the intervention group engaged in an empowerment education intervention of 11 sessions. (3) Results: In a post-test of three months, results show significant and positive changes among adolescents in substance use, including a notable reduction in positive attitudes toward drugs. In other words, the results showed adolescents reported less depression and substance use as well as higher peer support, parental support, social competence, and self-esteem at post-test and 3-month follow-ups as compared to the pre-intervention period. In addition, at both post-test and the 3-month follow-up, the intervention group performed better than the control group on peer support, parental support, social competence, and self-esteem. (4) Conclusions: This study presents a new indication that the empowerment education intervention effectively reduces substance use among Nigeria’s inner-city adolescents.

Keywords: adolescents; inner city; empowerment education intervention; substance use reduction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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