The increase in alcohol and cigarettes use among young people than any population strata is of great concern. The use of alcohol that began in African traditional society as an activity for political, religious, cultural and social relations has evolved over time into a problem of dependence and addiction. Despite concerted prevention efforts, there is still evidence of high prevalence of these drugs among students. As part of the prevention efforts, studies have been conducted to unravel etiological complexities of this drug use problem. This study sought to examine the extent to which the family factors, peer-group influence, exposure to pro-alcohol and cigarettes mass media content and level of self-esteem contribute to the use of alcohol and cigarettes among male students in public day secondary schools in Nakuru municipality, Kenya. To achieve this purpose, ex post facto research design was used and independent variables were studied retrospectively. Multistage cluster, Probability Proportionate to Size and purposive sampling methods were used to select the participating schools and respondents. A sample size of 327 students was selected from total population of 2279 from nine sampled schools. A self- administered questionnaire was used to collect data on students’ demographic and background characteristics, level of self reported alcohol and cigarettes use and social influences (parents, siblings and peers and exposure to pro-alcohol and cigarettes mass media content) that promote use of these drugs. Rosenberg self-esteem scale was used to measure respondents’ self-esteem. Data was analyzed by use of frequencies, percentages, cross-tabulation, Chi-square and logistic regression. SPSS version 15.0 computer program was used to aid in data analysis. The study established that Peer- group influence had the greatest contribution to high alcohol and cigarettes use, followed by family factors. The selected factors accounted for 44% of high alcohol and cigarettes use collectively. These findings may be useful in prioritizing targets for prevention and intervention programs.

 

Key words: Alcohol and cigarette use, family factors, peers, mass media, self-esteem, siblings and parental influence.