CHAPTER THREE

Methods

Participants

Participants in this study comprised of 120 Adolescent students (78 boys and 44 girls) selected

from two Secondary schools in Ikwerre Local Government Area. They are; Community

Secondary School, Imogu and Community Comprehensive Secondary School, Apani.

Participant’s ages ranged from 13-17 years with a mean age of 16.8 and SD of 9.68. Multi-stage

sampling technique involving cluster, simple random (balloting) and purposive sampling

techniques were used for data collection. On participants’ demographics; information indicated

that 49 were in Jss1 while 73 were Jss2, 99 in Jss3, 10 were in Sss1, and 11 were in Ss2, while 2

were in Sss3. On ethnicity, it was indicated that 78 were Ikwerre, 22 were Igbo, 9 were Yoruba

and 13 indicated Others. 94 indicated that they are Christians, 27 indicated Muslims and 1 was

an atheist. Birth position was also explored.

Instruments

A questionnaire comprising of demographic information (Participant’s age, rank, religion) and

two instruments were used for data collection. The instruments are; Peer pressure scale by

Santor, Messervey and Kusumakar (2000), and Adolsents’s smoking habits questionnaire by

National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

Peer Pressure Scale (Santor, Messervey and Kusumakar, 2000)

Peer pressure scale by Santor, Messervey and Kusumakar (2000) is a self report questionnaire

that assesses peer pressure. The Peer Pressure Scale was developed and validated by Santor,

Messervey and Kusumakar. There are 11 items on the scales which assess peer pressure. All

items are direct scored. Examples of items are; “If my friends are drinking, it would be hard for

me to resist having a drink”. “I’ve skipped classes, when others have urged me to”. Respondents

circle one of the five numbered response categories ranging from; (5) strongly agree, (4) agree,

(3) undecided, (2) disagree, (1) strongly disagree. The developers obtained a Cronbach alpha

consistency of 0.92. Acosta-Prado and Zarate-Torres (2019) reported an internal consistency

of .82. Nwoke, Ogba and Ugwu (2012) revalidated the scale for Nigerian use, using 233 students

from the University of Nigerian Nsukka. The reliability analysis of the pilot study shows

Cronbach’s alpha of .84. It also showed a reliability coefficient of .54.

Procedure

Multi-stage sampling technique was used for data collection in this study. At the first stage,

Secondary schools in Port Harcourt were organized into clusters. Simple random sampling

technique (Balloting) was used to draw three Secondary schools. At the second stage, Purposive

sampling technique was used to select participants in this study who fit into the required age

bracket.

The researcher obtained a Letter of Identification from the Department of Psychology, Rivers

State University to enable easy access to the Schools’ management, teachers and participants to

carry out this study at the three selected secondary schools. Participants were drawn from the

pool of Secondary school students. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed for this

study. At the first stage, Simple random sampling (balloting) was used to select the secondary
schools for the study, while purposive was used to select participants. The Principals in the

schools directed three teachers to assist the researcher with the administration of the copies of

questionnaires. The teachers who assisted the researcher were properly educated on the

modalities of administering, filling and collecting the questionnaires. The participants were

assured that their responses will be treated with utmost confidentiality and that participation is

voluntary. The copies of questionnaires were administered to consenting participants that

volunteered to be a part of the study. Using purposive sampling, 42 questionnaires were

administered in each of the three schools drawn. However, one hundred and twenty six (120)

copies of questionnaires were properly filled and used for data analysis. This was because 6

copies of the questionnaires were missing or not properly filled. Participants were debriefed and

appreciated for contributing to knowledge.

Design/statistics

Cross-sectional survey design was adopted for the study; this is a means of data collection to

make inferences about a population of interest at one point in time. Analysis of data was done

using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) IBM version 23 software.

Regression analysis was used because the researcher intends to find out the level of interaction

between each variable.

 CHAPTER FOUR

RESULT

Data obtained from participants were analyzed by computing the means, standard deviations and

correlations among the study variables. Multiple regression was conducted to test the hypothesis.

The variables were entered into the equation in models to test the extent to which they predicted

premarital sex.

Table 1: Means, standard deviations, and correlations for demographic variables, peer
pressure, and adolescent smoking habits

S/N Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 Age 14.96 1.42
2 Gender 1.43 .49 .014
3 BP 2.58 1.45 .061 .210*
4 Religious aff. 1.08 .33 .043 .288** .004
5 Ethnic Group 1.95 1.20 .033 .079 -.157 -.200*
6 Class 3.43 1.49 .052 .244**-.097 .249** -1.38
7 PP 32.48 11.02 .053 -.127 -.031 -.080 .103 -.143
8 ASH 10.6 2.35 -.038 -.002 .051 .002 .145 .177 -.090

Note: N=120, *=p<.05(two tailed), **p<.01(two tailed), Age was coded in years, BP = Birth position, Religious aff.= Religious
affiliation; Class= 1= jss1, 2= jss2, 3= jss3, 4= ss1, 5= ss2, 6= ss3; PP= Peer pressure; ASH= Adolescent smoking habit.
Gender was coded 1= male, 2= female; ethnic group was coded 1= ikwerre, 2= igbo, 3= Yoruba, 4= others; Religious affiliation
was coded 1= Christian, 2= Muslim, 3= traditional.

Result of the correlation table show that birth position is significantly related to age (r= .210, p<.05).

Religious affiliation is significantly related to birth position (r= .288, p<.05). Ethnic group is significantly

related to birth position (r= -.157, p<.05), and religious affiliation (r= -.200, p<.05). Class is only

significantly related to gender (r= .244**, p<.01), religious affiliation (r= .249**, p<.01), ethnic group (r=

-1.38, p<.05). Peer pressure is significantly related to gender (r= -.127, p<.05), ethnic group (r= .145,
p<.05), and class (r= -.177, p<.05). Adolescent smoking habits is significantly related to (r= .103, p<.05),

class (r= -.143, p<.05)

Table 2: Showing the prediction of ‘adolescent smoking habit’ from control variables, and
peer pressure

R R2 R2Δ B Beta (β) T

Model 1 .291a .085 .085
Age -.109 -.066 -.725
Gender -.529 -.112 -1.11
Birth position .220 .136 1.42
Religious aff. .126 .018 .181
Ethnic group .419 .215 2.23
Class .389 .246 2.54
Model 2
PP .302b .091 .007 -.018 -.185 -.927

Note. N= 120,* = p< .05 (two tailed), ** = p<.01 (two tailed). Religious aff. = religious affiliation; PP = Peer
pressure.

Regression result in table 2 above indicated of all the control variables, Gender predicted

adolescent smoking habit (β = -.112, t= -1.11, p<.05). Birth Position predicted adolescent

smoking habit (β = .136, t= 1.42, p<.05). Ethnic group predicted adolescent smoking habit (β

= .215, t= 2.23, p<.05). Class also predicted adolescent smoking habit (β = .246, t= 2.54, p<.05).

But jointly, the control variables accounted for a less than 1% non-significant variance as a

predictor of adolescent smoking habit (R2∆ = .085, p<.05). Peer pressure entered in model two of

the equation did significantly predict adolescent smoking habit (β = -.185, t = 3.88, p<.05). It

accounted for a non-significant variance as a predictor of premarital sex (R2∆ = .007, p <.05).
Summary of Findings

 In the correlation result adolescent smoking habit was significantly related to class only

but not significantly related to age, birth position, gender, religious affiliation, ethnic

group, and peer pressure.

 Of all the control variables, gender, birth position, ethnic group and class significantly

predicted adolescent smoking habit.

 Peer pressure significantly predicted adolescent smoking habit.