Cannabis and amphetamine use and its psychosocial correlates among school-going adolescents in Ghana

• Main Author: Kwaku Oppong Asante (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: BMC, 2019-08-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.1186/s13034-019-0293-0; 1753-2000
• Keywords: School-going adolescents; Amphetamine use; Cannabis use; Risk factors; Ghana; Pediatrics; RJ1-570; Psychiatry; RC435-571
• Source: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, Vol 13, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2019)

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of cannabis and amphetamine use and to determine its associated factors among school-going adolescents in Ghana. Method The 2012 Ghanaian Global School-based Student Health Survey on 3632 adolescents aged 11-19 years (mean = 15.1 years; SD = 1.4) was used. Participants for this study were sampled from selected junior (JHS) and senior high schools (SHS) in all the 10 administrative regions of Ghana. A two-stage cluster sampling design was used to select 25 senior high schools to represent all the 10 regions of Ghana. Information was collected with a self-administered structured questionnaire that contained information on demographics, alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, violence, and a range of other health-related behaviours. Results The result showed that past-month cannabis use was 5.3% and lifetime amphetamine use was 7.1% among students. In multivariate model, after controlling for other variables, school truancy and current cigarette smoking were associated with both past-month cannabis and lifetime amphetamine use. The number of close friends was associated with only past-month cannabis use. School environment factors (bullying victimisation and having been attacked) and parental substance use were associated with lifetime amphetamine use. Conclusion This study identified a number of risk factors, including parental substance use and various risk behaviours, for both past-month cannabis and lifetime amphetamine use. School-based health intervention programmes should be developed taking into consideration the risk factors associated with cannabis and amphetamine use among school-going adolescents.