Parental Guidance Practices and the Prevention of Drug Abuse Among Adolescents in Oyo State

This study examines the role of parental guidance practices in preventing drug abuse among adolescents in Oyo State, South West Nigeria. Substance misuse among Nigerian adolescents has gained increasing public health attention, with survey data indicating rising rates of tramadol, cannabis, and codeine use among secondary school-age youth. This research adopted a descriptive correlational design involving 420 parent-adolescent dyads selected from six secondary schools in Ibadan and Ogbomoso. Parental guidance was operationalised across three dimensions: monitoring and supervision, communication quality, and disciplinary approaches. Drug use risk was assessed using the CRAFFT Screening Tool for adolescent substance misuse. Data were analysed using Pearson correlation and multiple regression. Results indicate that parental monitoring and open parent-adolescent communication about drug risks are significantly negatively associated with drug use risk, while harsh punitive discipline showed a paradoxical positive association with drug-seeking behaviour. The protective effect of parental monitoring was strongest among younger adolescents, while communication quality became a more salient predictor in older age groups. The study recommends that health promotion agencies in Oyo State partner with schools to deliver evidence-based parenting skills programmes that specifically address adolescent drug prevention through relational and communicative strategies. Keywords: parental guidance, drug abuse prevention, adolescents, Oyo State, parental monitoring.