Effects of Parental Abandonment and Strife on Youth Drug Use
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Date
2021-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Journal of Alcohol & Drug Abuse
Abstract
Parenting behaviour is a major contributor to youth behaviour, and has been shown to precipitate maladaptive
behaviours among the youth. Parents have been shown to play a major role in the way children turn out to be later in
life. When parents behave negatively, children are likely to behave the same ending up with problematic behaviours.
Studies have shown that negative parental practices have produced young people involved in sexual promiscuity, poor
academic performance and substance abuse. However, little has been studied on the effects of parental abandonment
and strife between parents on youth negative behaviours in Kenya. This study therefore aimed to investigate the effects
of parental abandonment and strife on drug use among youth at a Kenyan University. Using the descriptive research
design (cross-sectional) the sample size of 407 respondents was selected at 80% power and 10% effect size using
stratified random sampling techniques. The Alcohol Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) and
researcher-generated socio-demographic questionnaire were used to collect data from the respondents. Inferential
statistics using ANOVA analysed the data on the Statistical Package for Social and Sciences (SPSS) version 23. The
results indicated that respondents who felt rejected at home (p=0.0001), those with parents who did not spend much
time with them (p=0.048) and those who felt displeased with their parents’ behaviour (p=0.0001) were statistically
associated with substance use. It is concluded that parental behaviour may have a negative influence on youth drug use.
The study recommends that parents be made aware of the effect of their actions in abandoning children and in poor
conflict management so as to forestall problematic behaviours in their children’s later life
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Parenting, Abandonment, Youth Drug Use, Strife
Citation
Ndegwa, S. & Waiyki, W. (2021). Effects of Parental Abandonment and Strife on Youth Drug Use. African Journal of Alcohol & Drug Abuse. 3, 30-34.