An exploration of the understandings of drug use from young drug users’ perspectives in the Western Cape: Implications for primary prevention

Abstract

The high rate of substance abuse among youth in South Africa is a clear indication of the level to which this issue has infiltrated the South African society. Drug abuse at an early age has been associated with problems, such as risky sexual behaviours, health problems, depression, crime, and ultimately drug addiction, which often occur at a later stage. There are many interrelated reasons and risk factors for drug use among youth and studies have mostly focussed on familial and other broader social environments such as peer/neighborhood factors for use. Less attention has been focussed on the internal or psychological factors at play in the lives of young users. This study aimed to fill this gap by exploring young drug users’ perceptions of the internal or psychological factors cited as their reasons for drug use. A better understanding of the internal risk factors that influence adolescent drug use is crucial for the development of effective prevention strategies. A qualitative method of inquiry was applied to gather in-depth data from a purposive sample of 41 young (14–19 years of age) drug users, at five drug treatment centres in the Western Cape. The findings of this study revealed that internal factors such as a permissive and/or positive attitude towards drugs, a deficit in social skills; a lack of self-esteem, and poor/maladaptive coping mechanisms were at play in the lives of the adolescents in this study. Implications for primary prevention were considered, as these findings underscore the need to consider these internal risk factors when developing interventions to reduce adolescent drug abuse.