Illicit Drug Use Pattern, Health-Risk Behaviors, and Social Contexts Among Indonesian Students

AuthorBudi Utomo,Nurul Huriah Astuti,Rita Damayanti,Dien Anshari
Published date01 January 2022
Date01 January 2022
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/00220426211045018
Subject MatterArticles
Article
Journal of Drug Issues
2022, Vol. 52(1) 6782
© The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/00220426211045018
journals.sagepub.com/home/jod
Illicit Drug Use Pattern,
Health-Risk Behaviors, and
Social Contexts Among
Indonesian Students
Nurul Huriah Astuti
1,2
, Budi Utomo
3
, Rita Damayanti
3
, and
Dien Anshari
3
Abstract
Health-risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption, and premarital sex) among Indonesian stu-
dents are important issues. Understanding the association of these health-risk behaviors and ad-
olescentssocial contexts (family, peers, and neighborhood characteristics) to illicit drug use is
required to develop strategies in preventing illicit drug use in Indonesia. The study used a multi-stage
cluster random sampling method to collect data from the 2016 National Narcotics Survey of In-
donesian students. The sample included 31,439 students. The result shows that the illicit drug use
pattern was different from previous studies: the most prevalent was at the senior high school level.
Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that smoking, alcohol consumption, premarital sex,
peers, sex, family, and neighborhood were associated with illicit drug use. The study highlighted the
importance of health-risk behaviors, social contexts of adolescents, and the illicit drug use pattern as
considering factors in developing strategies to reduce illicit drug use prevalence.
Keywords
adolescent, alcohol, illicit drug use, Indonesian students, premarital sex, smoking, sociodemographic
factors
Introduction
Adolescence is a period of vulnerability to various health-risks, including illicit drug use,
worldwide (UNODC, 2018). These risky behaviors among adolescents may only be a temporary
phenomenon, which arises out of curiosity, and the destructive behaviors may ultimately be
discontinued (Hoffmann, 2017). However, it is undeniable that there are groups of adolescents
1
Doctoral Study Program of Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
2
Faculty of Health Sciences, Muhammadiyah University of Prof. Dr. Hamka, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia
3
Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
Corresponding Author:
Nurul Huriah Astuti, Public Health Sciences Study Program, Muhammadiyah University of Prof. Dr Hamka Jl. Limau II
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan 12130, Indonesia.
Email: nurul_taqia@uhamka.ac.id
who will continue to engage in high-risk health behaviors. Illicit drug use is a mental health issue
(Sychareun et al., 2011) that leads to long-term problems, is a signif‌icant risk factor for premature
death globally, and contributes to infectious and non-communicable diseases (Kuteesa et al.,
2020).
The prevalence of illicit drug use among Indonesian students is lower than that of students in
Thailand, Poland, Serbia, and the United States (Nowak et al., 2018;Raki´
c et al., 2014;
Sirirassamee & Sirirassamee, 2015;Swendsen et al., 2012). However, the prevalence of lifetime
illicit drug use among Indonesian students is higher than in Malaysia (Yusoff et al., 2014) and
South Korea (Park & Kim, 2016). In addition, illicit drug use among Indonesian students causes
several problems among Indonesian students, such as poor academic achievement, diff‌icult y
concentrating, antisocial behavior, and incarceration (BNN, 2017).
Drug traff‌icking, including in Indonesia, always exists because this is a prof‌itable business. The
more signif‌icant users, the greater the level of prof‌it obtained (BNN, 2017). Indonesia is a country
in the golden triangle area of drug traff‌icking and the largest drug sales market in ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) (Alam et al., 2020). Indonesia is also known as a country
in a drug emergency condition (Naf‌isah et al., 2019). Therefore, Indonesia has policies to reduce
the traff‌icking of drugs and decrease the prevalence of drug use. These policies include supply and
demand reduction policies, active defense policies, and a collaboration between central, pro-
vincial, and city/district governments to prevent and eradicate abuse and illicit drug use traf-
f‌icking. These policies are contained in Presidential Instruction Number 2 of 2020, continuing
Presidential Instruction Number 5 of 2018.
The conceptual framework for adolescent risk behavior explains that factors to consider in
assessing adolescent risk behavior are demographic, socio-psychological, environmental risk
factors and (other) risk behaviors (Jessor, 1991). Previous studies have shown that illicit drug use
is inf‌luenced by demographic characteristics, such as sex and education level (Assanangkornchai
et al., 2018;Mistry et al., 2009;Tsitsimpikou et al., 2018). Other researchers also showed that
behavioral health-risk factors (smoking, alcohol consumption, and premarital sex) were associated
with illicit drug use (Agrawal, 2013;Assanangkornchai et al., 2018;Best et al., 2000;Biederman
et al., 2006;Hoffmann, 2017;Kirby & Barry, 2012;Lai et al., 2000;Loke et al., 2016;Nowak
et al., 2018;Shrier et al., 1997;Sychareun et al., 2011;Zimmerman & Farrell, 2017).
The prevalence of health-risk behaviors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and premarital
sex, among Indonesian students are important issues. A previous study revealed that one of four
Indonesian students ever smokes, one of six Indonesian students consumes alcohol, and one of 20
Indonesian students ever engaged in premarital sex (BNN, 2017). The smoking prevalence among
Indonesian students is higher than students who participated in The Global Youth TobaccoSurvey
(GYTS) (19.8%) (WHO, 2018). However, the prevalence of alcohol consumption among In-
donesian students is lower than among Korean students (Shin & Kang, 2014), and the prevalence
of premarital sex is also lower than that in Thai Youth (40%). Although the prevalence of alcohol
consumption and premarital sex among Indonesian students are lower than in other Asian
countries, it remains a public health problem in Indonesia.
Jessor (2017) also argued that adolescents live simultaneously around three key settings known
as social context, namely, family, the school, and the neighborhood. All three descriptive contexts
overlap. It means that what happens in one could impact the others (Jessor, 2017). In addition,
social cognitive/learning theory developed by Bandura (1986) explained that adolescents acquire
their beliefs about health-risk behaviors, such as illicit drug use, from their model, particularly
their peers and family (parents and siblings) who use substance.
Another study focused on Indonesian adolescents also have been conducted to identify the
factors associated with illicit drug use. Some Indonesian researchers have identif‌ied the asso-
ciation between smoking, alcohol consumption, and sexual behavior with illicit drug use (Agned
68 Journal of Drug Issues 52(1)

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT