Substance Abuse Prevention Strategy: Utilizing the Socio-Ecological Model Prevention Approach with Nigerian University Systems.

Psychoactive substances leading to addiction may be the Nation's most current critical public health problem and the major risk behavior among youths, leading to gang formation, armed robbery, cultism, physical and mental health complications. This crisis is at the root of the massive health, social, and financial burden eating away the nation’s human resources. A clear understanding of substance abuse, its hazardous effects and identification of major psychoactive substances has been instrumental in the development of prevention strategies and treatment interventions for substance use prevention and treatments. Research has shown that treating addiction with medications alone is not nearly as effective as when the medication is coupled with a behavioral approach. Although steady progress in developing approaches to treatments is being made, it is pertinent to look beyond treatment to prevention which may bring more lasting results.

Despite the known risks associated with substance use, young people continue using these drugs, so, strategies presented in this report provide current and existing knowledge of socio-ecological model approach for intervention and prevention of substance abuse among Nigerian university systems.


Keywords: Substance abuse; socio-ecological model; prevention, Nigerian university student