1. Introduction
depression, inner-city
SAID
(1) Background: Substance use among inner-city adolescents is at an alarming rate in Nigeria. Despite their high exposure to this risk, limited experimental tests have been conducted on prevention programs. (2) Methods: This study investigates the effectiveness of an empowerment education intervention in reducing the risk of substance use in Abuja’s inner-city adolescents. Random selection placed adolescents into intervention and control conditions, and assessment was conducted at baseline, post-test, and 3-months follow-up intervention. After pre-test, the intervention group engaged in an empowerment education intervention of 11 sessions. (3) Results: In a post-test of three months, results show significant and positive changes among adolescents in substance use, including a notable reduction in positive attitudes toward drugs. In other words, the results showed adolescents reported less depression and substance use as well as higher peer support, parental support, social competence, and self-esteem at post-test and 3-month follow-ups as compared to the pre-intervention period. In addition, at both post-test and the 3-month follow-up, the intervention group performed better than the control group on peer support, parental support, social competence, and self-esteem. (4) Conclusions: This study presents a new indication that the empowerment education intervention effectively reduces substance use among Nigeria’s inner-city adolescents.Substance use refers to a pattern of consuming or depending excessively on illegal or addictive substances, alcohol, and over-the-counter drugs, which is to the detriment of self and others [Inner cities are characterized as an area of urban communities with high rates of impoverishment, violence, tenancy, single-head households, and limited access to the country’s political and social resources [Moreover, the said problems are further amplified as this young population bears the brunt of socio-economic inequalities and specific access to quality intervention programs and services related to prevention [However, to our knowledge, no study has been conducted on an educational empowerment intervention for substance use reduction among inner-city adolescents. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational empowerment intervention to reduce substance use among inner-city adolescents in Abuja, Nigeria. We hypothesized that the intervention group would report less substance use compared with those from the control group. The risk-and-protective-factors approach has been used to guide substance use prevention research.