Portrayal of Substance-Use by Social Media Celebrities and its Influence on Substance Abuse among Students of Enugu State University of Science and Technology

Abstract

Drug abuse over the years has become a social and health dilemma in Nigeria
and across the world. There is rising concern about the link between social media
and celebrity’s social media posts and the incidence of substance misuse and
addiction among young people. Specifically, the study ascertained the usage of
drugs among Nigerian youths and the influence of social media on drug misuse.
A sample of 384 out of 18,702, undergraduate students at the Enugu State
University of Science and Technology participated in the study. The cross-
sectional survey research design was adopted to collect quantitative data using
the questionnaire structured by the researchers. Three research experts validated
the instrument and thereafter, was pre-tested on a sample of 20 respondents.
Microsoft Excel was used for data analysis using the Relative Importance Index
(RII) formula where values closer to one (1) are considered of higher importance.
The findings of the study indicate that alcohol was ranked first (RII = 0.40) as the
most used substance. The daily use (RII = 0.66) of substances among the
respondents shows a high rate of substance abuse. Though the students were
mostly introduced to substance use by their peers (RII = 0.54), however, a good
number of the respondents stated they got validation for continued substance
use through celebrities on social media (RII = 0.50). Based on the findings, the
study recommended the need to organize regular seminars, workshops and
conferences targeted at addressing substance abuse in higher institutions as its
prevalence among the youth is quite high.