Department of Children, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Accra, Ghana.
Department of Environment and Public Health, University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Somanya, Ghana.
Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2024 Feb 29;19(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s13011-024-00600-2.
Substance use among adolescents poses significant risks to their health, wellbeing, and development, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, including Ghana. However, little is known about the outlets and reasons for substance use among Ghanaian adolescents. This study examined the prevalence, correlates, reasons for substance use, and outlets of these substances among adolescents aged 10-17 in Ghana.
Data were obtained from the Department of Children, Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Ghana, which employed a cross-sectional convergent parallel mixed-methods technique to collect quantitative and qualitative data from children aged 8-17, parents or legal guardians and officials of state institutions responsible for the promotion and protection of children's rights and wellbeing. Overall, 4144 adolescents aged 10-17 were interviewed for the quantitative data, while 92 adolescents participated in 10 focus group discussions. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square test, and multivariable binary logistic regression were used to analyse the quantitative data, while the qualitative data was analysed thematically.
The prevalence of substance use was 12.3%. Regarding the types of substance use, alcohol (56.9%) and cigarettes (26.4%) were the most common substances. Being a male and currently working are significant risk factors, whereas being aged 10-13, and residing in the Middle- and Northern-ecological belts of Ghana are significant protective factors of substance use. Peers, household members who use substances, drug stores, and drug peddlers are the major outlets. The reasons for substance use were fun, substance as an aphrodisiac, boosting self-confidence, dealing with anxiety, and improved social status.
There is a relatively high substance use among adolescents in Ghana, and this calls for a multi-sectoral approach to addressing substance use by providing risk-behaviour counselling, parental control, and effective implementation of substance use laws and regulations.
青少年的物质使用对他们的健康、幸福和发展构成重大风险，尤其是在包括加纳在内的低收入和中等收入国家。然而，人们对加纳青少年使用物质的途径和原因知之甚少。本研究调查了加纳 10-17 岁青少年物质使用的流行率、相关性、使用原因和途径。
数据来自加纳儿童事务部、性别、儿童和社会保护部，该部采用横断面汇聚平行混合方法，从 8-17 岁儿童、父母或法定监护人以及负责促进和保护儿童权利和福祉的国家机构官员那里收集定量和定性数据。总共对 4144 名 10-17 岁的青少年进行了定量数据分析，而 92 名青少年参加了 10 个焦点小组讨论。使用描述性统计、皮尔逊卡方检验和多变量二项逻辑回归分析定量数据，同时对定性数据进行主题分析。
物质使用的流行率为 12.3%。关于物质使用的类型，酒精（56.9%）和香烟（26.4%）是最常见的物质。男性和目前工作是显著的风险因素，而年龄在 10-13 岁之间，以及居住在加纳中北部生态带是物质使用的显著保护因素。同伴、家中使用物质的成员、药店和毒贩是主要的途径。使用物质的原因是好玩、物质作为春药、增强自信、应对焦虑和提高社会地位。
加纳青少年的物质使用相对较高，这需要采取多部门方法，通过提供风险行为咨询、父母控制以及有效执行物质使用法律法规来解决物质使用问题。
