Civil Service Universities' Graduate Student Academic Performance and Social Drug Use

Abstract

Background: It has long been known that using drugs like alcohol, khat and tobacco is one of the main causes of human suffering. It is now regarded as one of the most significant socioeconomic and public health concerns in the world. Although it has an impact on many facets of society, juvenile substance abuse is alarmingly on the rise.

Objective:  This study's goal is to evaluate how social drug usage affects students' academic performance, specifically among those who will graduate from Civil Service University in 2021.

Methodology:

A cross-sectional study was done on an institutional level among Civil Service University graduates. For the current study, a sample of 271 students was selected using a straightforward random selection procedure from nine departments.

Result:  A total of 271 graduating students from various departments were involved in this study. There were 97 women and 174 men overall, or 64.2% and 35.8% respectively. 33.6% of people used social drugs at some point in their lives. According to this study, alcohol, khat, and cigarettes were the most widely used social drugs (41.8%, 40.7%, and 12.1% respectively). Increased absenteeism from class (31.9%) and a drop in cumulative grade points (27.5%) were the most frequent effects of social drug use on students' academic performances, followed by lack of interest in everyday activities (25.3%) and worsening academic performance (15.2%), according to respondents.

The most common reasons reported by respondents were recreational purposes (25.6%), & peer pressure (23.3%) followed by socialization (17.8%) and the least reasons were academic dissatisfaction (13.3%), increased academic performance (11.1%) and loss of family control (8.9%). According to the statistical analysis and p-value, age, Religion, Ever social drug use, Current social drug use, Started using social drug use and impact of social drug use have statistically significant associations with CGPA.

Conclusion and Recommendation:  According to the studies, social drug usage harmed kids' academic performance. The most common effects were more absences from school, a drop in cumulative grade points, and a lack of interest in everyday activities. Alcohol, khat, and cigarettes were the most popular social drugs. This finding justifies responsible bodies educating people about the detrimental effects that social drug use has on students' academic performance, especially when they first enrol in college, and it also calls for more thorough research that examines the various issues related to social drug use.