A TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF PREVALENCE, PATTERN AND PERCEPTION OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE AMONG HIGHER SECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS IN ERNAKULAM DISTRICT, KERALA

Abstract

Substance abuse can degenerate the very fabric of a nation by destroying its youth and is detrimental to the development prospects of its economy. The present study makes a temporal analysis of the prevalence, pattern and perception of substance abuse among Higher Secondary and Higher Education Students of Ernakulam District, Kerala. The data was collected both in years 2022 and 2023 and the study constructed three scale variables such as Risk Perception of students towards Substance abuse, Disapproval Rate Score and Perception of Drug Accessibility in order to compare Higher Secondary and Higher Education Students over years 2022 and 2023.The study makes use of Independent Sample t-tests and Two way between-group ANOVA to analyse the data. The study recommends a multipronged approach which on the one hand, cuts the sources of drug, curb the drug peddlers and enforce stringent measures on drug abuse, on the other hand promote awareness among students on the perils of drug abuse and provide counseling and rehabilitation.