Coping as voorspeller van die risiko vir substansmisbruik by adolessente

English: International and national studies indicate that substance use and abuse are considered important psychosocial issues among adolescents. It is therefore critical to investigate the risk and protection factors that may contribute to the development of this behavioural problem. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether coping could serve as a predictor of substance abuse, while the role of ethnicity was also investigated. To put substance abuse into context, the extent of substance use among adolescents in the Free State was determined. In order to achieve the goal of this study, a non-experimental research design was followed, consisting of both correlation and criterion group components. The research group comprised 494 grade 8 learners from ten schools in the Free State. The measuring instruments utilised were a self-compiled biographical and substance use questionnaire, a selected sub-scale of the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory for Adolescents (SASSI-A2) (Miller & Lazowski, 2001) and the Revised-Coping Scheme Inventory (R-CSI) (Wong, Reker, & Peacock, 2006). The results indicated that two coping strategies, namely passive emotional and active emotional coping, could serve as statistically significant predictors of substance abuse symptoms. The active emotional coping strategy played a protecting role, while the passive emotional coping strategy increased the risk of substance abuse. Regarding ethnic differences, white and black adolescents differed significantly in the prevalence of substance abuse symptoms, where black adolescents reported a higher incidence. Furthermore, it was found that adolescents in the Free State use various substances, where the use and overuse of alcohol had an especially high incidence. Ethnicity also affected the use of coping strategies. White adolescents used more situational coping strategies in comparison to coloured adolescents. Further, more coping through the formation of meaning was used by white as opposed to black adolescents. Black adolescents, however, used more social support as a coping strategy in comparison to coloured adolescents. The results emphasise that coping does indeed play a role in the prevalence of substance abuse, although, in this study, it explained only a small percentage of the total variance. Based on the results, it is suggested that intervention programmes focus on the development of emotionally regulating characteristics of the adolescent. Further research can investigate the contextual variables that influence the emotional regulation of the adolescent.