| dc.description.abstract | Drug and substance abuse among high school students is a major public health problem with the most affected age being between 15-29 years. The accessibility, affordability, and consumption of abused drugs by the students have attracted great concern among public health personnel due to the substantial negative impact on human health and wellbeing ranging from medical, social, family, academic performance, legal and economic problems. This descriptive cross-sectional study investigated household predictors of drugs and substance abuse among high school students in Kisumu East Sub-County, Kisumu County. The target population was high school students aged 15- 25 years learning in high schools within Kisumu East Sub County. The age strata is an average age bracket for high school students in Kenya. Sampling techniques included, snow ball, systematic random, cluster and stratified sampling with a sample size of 434 calculated using Yamane formula. Validity and reliability of the instruments were tested through pilot study prior to the actual study while data collection done through semi-structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were organized and summarized in tables while inferential statistics done using Chi square and logistic regression analysis (α = 0.05). Higher odds of abuse were reported among students whose parents/guardians have high academic expectations (ₐOR=17.13; 95% CI 8.30, 35.37 p <0.001), students living with their mothers (ₐOR=4.57; 95% CI 1.17, 17.94, p=0.03), those from families with monthly income between Ksh 31,000-50,000 (ₐOR=2.91; 95% CI 1.38, 6.13 p=0.01), students whose parents/guardians have temporary part-time job (ₐOR=4.30; 95% CI 1.43, 12.95 p=0.01) as well as students with pre-existing psychological or mental problems (ₐOR=3.68; 95% CI 1.34, 10.11 p=0.01). Some of the strategies used by parents/guardians to prevent students from drugs and substance abuse include punishment, prayers, monitoring of movements, rewards, guiding and counselling with much preference being for punishment. Most parents/guardians neither discuss with their children on dangers of drugs and substances abuse nor monitor their movements due to busy work schedules and overwhelming family responsibilities. This study recommends society promotion of education among women to empower them with relevant knowledge, values and skills in the management and prevention of drug and substance abuse since they are majorly the primary care givers to the children, parents/guardians should balance between work and family time to ensure reasonably enough time for bonding, communication on the dangers of drug abuse, sufficient monitoring of the student’s movements and prompt action should there be anything unusual in the student’s behavior. They should love and appreciate the students just as they are by helping them to identify and nurture their potentials without a lot of expectation and limit the amount of pocket money to students too. The Kisumu ministry of health and education should conduct more campaigns both in the rural and urban areas aimed at creating awareness to the general public on the household predictors, dangers, early detection , prevention and management of drugs and substance abuse both in rural and urban settings to achieve healthy behavior. | en_US |