Influence of Religiosity and Social Media on The Prevalence of Substance Use Amongst Female Undergraduates

ABSTRACT

The present study examined influence of religiosity and social media in prevalence of substance use among female undergraduates. Participants were two hundred and sixty six (266) female undergraduates drawn from four higher institutions in South Eastern Nigeria. Participants were randomly selected among the population of female students in South Eastern Nigerian. Their ages ranged between 18 to 30 years with a mean age of 20.46 years (SD = 2.35). Cross sectional design was adopted. Three instruments were used for data collection. Drug use questionnaire, religious commitment inventory-10, and social media affinity scale. Two hypotheses were tested. Hierarchical multiple regression was the main statistic used for data analysis. Result of Hierarchical Multiple Regression analysis showed that religiosity was not a significant predictor of prevalence substance use among female undergraduates. The result also showed that social media was not a significant predictor of prevalence of substance use among female undergraduates. A practical implication of the findings is that indulging in religious activities does not necessarily translate to stopping or avoiding substance use. Limitations and Suggestions for further studies were equally made.