Peer pressure, substance abuse and risky sexual behavior among students at Makerere University

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between peer pressure, substance abuse and risky sexual behavior among the students at Makerere University, Kampala district in Uganda (the youth between 19-35 years old). Objectives included: examining relationships between peer pressure and substance abuse; peer pressure and risky sexual behavior, substance abuse and risky sexual behavior; and substance abuse mediates the relationship between peer pressure and risky sexual behavior. Purposive sampling was used to select a sample of 300 respondents (149 males and 151 females).The study was quantitative and used correlational research design and Pearson correlation coefficient to test the first three study hypotheses and PROCESS was used to test the fourth hypothesis. SPSS version 22 was used for data entry and analysis. Results showed that there was a significant relationship between; peer pressure and substance abuse (r = .0439, p< 0.005), peer pressure and risky sexual behavior (r = .0.443, p<0.001) and, substance abuse and risky sexual behavior (r = .0.349, p <0.001). Substance abuse was found to be a significant mediator between peer pressure and risky sexual behavior. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the impact of peer pressure and its relationship between substance abuse and risky sexual behavior among the youth. The discourse in this study emphasize the need for serious policy intervention. Putting more focused guidelines in place to monitor and discourage negative peer pressure, substance abuse and risky sexual behavior among the students might help the youth leave in a safer-environment.