DRUG ABUSE AND CULTISM AS CORRELATES OF STUDENTS' ATTITUDE AND PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL IN DELTA STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

The study examined drug abuse and cultism as correlates of students' attitude and academic performance in mathematics in secondary schools in Delta State. The correlational research design was used in the study. The population for the study comprised 19,978 SSII public secondary School students in Delta State for the 2023/2024 session. The sample size for this study comprised 698 SSII students selected from 16 public secondary schools in Delta State using simple random sampling technique.Data were gathered using three instruments: Drug Abuse and
Cultism Questionnaire (DACQ), Mathematics Attitude Scale (MAS) and students' past results in Mathematics.DACQ and MAS were validated by three experts, while students' past result was not validated since it was collected from origin source (Vice Princiapals' Academic Office), DACQ and MAS had reliability coefficients of 0.73 and 0.77, Data obtained were analysed using Pearson correlation. The results revealed Significant negative correlation between drug abuse
and students' attitude as well as academic performance in Mathematics; and significant negative correlations between cultism and students' attitude as well as students' academic performance in Mathematics. Based on these findings, it was recommended among others that educational institutions should establish robust counseling services that provide support for students struggling students' with drug abuse and the pressures of cultism.