I. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

A psychoactive substance is a substance that affects the body's central nervous system (CNS) and changes how people behave or perceive what is happening around them. Psychoactive substances include illicit/illegal drugs and some medications; medications have the potential to prevent or cure disease or enhance a person's physical or mental well-being, but psychoactive medications (like those used to treat anxiety or pain) also have the potential to create problems (Colombo Plan, 2017).

The central nervous system (CNS) is that part of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord; our brains are protected by a membrane called the "blood-brain barrier". This barrier is a series of tightly pressed-together cells that allows for the passage of only certain chemicals, because the cells of the blood-brain barrier are so tightly pressed together, substance with a large molecular structure and that are water soluble (meaning that they dissolve easily in fluid) can't get through the barrier. Most medications we take, like aspirin or antibiotics, are in this category (Norman H.S., 2018).

However, psychotropic medications used to treat major mental disorders (like antipsychotics and antidepressants) are psychoactive substances; they are not abused substances because they do not produce the same immediate pleasurable effects (Olatude, B., 2015).

In addition to their direct effects in the brain, psychoactive substances can alter the biochemical processes of body tissues and organs (Okie, S., 2018). The primary characteristics of psychoactive substances is that they alter mood, thoughts, judgment, sensory perception, and behaviour; examples of how a substance might alter mood include:

• Feeling more alert

• Feeling more relaxed

• Feeling more or less depressed than usual;

• Feeling irritable or angry

• Feeling more sociable

• Feeling happy

• Feeling more or less sexual and

• Feeling fearful.

Examples of how a substance might alter thinking and judgment include:

• Racing thoughts

• Inability to plan or make a decision

• Distorted perceptions

• Increased clarity of thoughts

• Paranoid thought and

• Poor judgment

Examples of how a substance might alter sensory perceptions include:

• Perceptual distortions

• Changes in temperature perception and

• Changes in pain perception

Examples of how a substance might alter behaviour include:

• Decreased or increased activity

• Increased risk-taking, dangerous activities;

• Behaviour not in line with personal values

• Aggression or violence

• Passivity and

• Increased or decreased sexual behaviour.

There are four main classes, or types, of psychoactive substance:

• Stimulants

• Opioids (sometimes called narcotics)

• Depressants and

• Hallucinogens

These classes are based on the substance's primary effects on the CNS; stimulants increase the activity of the CNS. They tend to increase heart rate and breathing and offer a sense of excited euphoria.

Opioids selectively depress the CNS; these analgesics reduce pain and tend to induce sleep.

Depressants decrease the activity of the CNS, they tend to decrease heart rate and breathing and offer a relaxed, sometimes sleepy, sense of well-being or euphoria.

Hallucinogens produce a spectrum of vivid sensory distortions and markedly alter mood and thinking.

In a general overview, psychoactive substances produce a variety of effects, both positive and negative. These effects depend in large part on the type of substance taken.

a) Statement of the Problem

Substance dependence falls into two broad categories. When a person compulsory uses a substance to maintain bodily comfort and physical dependence (or addiction). Exist physical dependence occurs most often with substances that cause withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal from substances such as alcohol, barbiturate, and opiates can be extremely unpleasant. Quitting opiates for example, violent flu-like symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, chills, sweating and cramps (Feldman, 2017). Addiction is often accompanied by a substance tolerance in which the user must take larger and larger dose to get the desired effect. Many people do not understand why or how other people became addicted to substances. It is often mistakenly assumed that psychoactive substance users lack moral principles or will power and that they could stop using substances simply by choosing to change their behavior. In reality, substance addiction is a complex disease, and quitting takes more than good intentions or strong will. In fact, because substance change the brain in ways that foster compulsive psychoactive substance use, quitting is difficult even for those who are ready to do so. Through scientific advances, we know more about how substances work in the brain than ever and we also know that substance addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing substances and lead productive lives when a person develops a psychological dependence, he or she feels that a substance is necessary to maintain emotional or psychological well-being (Oloyede, 2020).

Usually this is based on an intense craving for the substance and its rewarding qualities (Feldman and Querzer, 2017). However, psychological dependence affect a psychoactive substance user as powerful as physical addiction dose. This is why some psychologists prefer to define addiction more broadly as any compulsive habit pattern, by this definition, a person who has lost control over his or her psychoactive substance use for whatever reason, is addicted to some substances of course, have a higher potential for abuse than others. Heroin is certainly more dangerous than caffeine.

However, this is only one side of the picture often it is as useful to classify substance taken behavior as it is to raid substance for example, some people remain social drinkers for life; whereas others become alcoholic within weeks of taking their first drink. In this sense, psychoactive substance use can be classified as experimental (short term use on curiosity), social recreational (occasional social use for pleasure or relaxation), situation (use to cope with a specific problem such as boredom or staying awake for night work), intensive (daily use with element of dependence, or compulsive (intense use and extreme dependence) (National Commission of Marihuana and Psychoactive Substance Use, 2019).

Most students have low self-esteem and this has been affecting their performance negatively. Psychoactive substance use among students is on the increase and this has constituted a threat to the peace, integrity, stability and many societies as well as schools and families (Aduku, 2017). Academic performance of students varies greatly at the end of their four year program. This study aimed at finding out how school factors such as school environment, teachers, peers and home factors such as parents and parenting style, parent-adolescent relationships and demographic factors such as age, peer influence, gender and peer statuses affect the students' self-esteem in relation to their academic performance (Berkey, 2018).

b) Research Questions

In order to have a comprehensive study of the phenomenon the researcher wishes to present the following questions:

i. Why do males have low self-esteem than females under the influence of psychoactive substance use?

ii. Why do people with high self-esteem indulge in psychoactive substance use?

c) Objective of Study

The main aim of this research paper is not merely an academic endeavor only but most importantly to add to the existing information on the influence of psychoactive substance use on student's self-esteem policy and intervention particularly, the study aim at:

i. To examine the cause of psychoactive substance use among students of Nasarawa State University, Keffi.

ii. To examine the degree or level of self-esteem among male and female students of Nasarawa State University, Keffi.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter introduces us to some of the theoretical review and empirical review which has to do with existing theories and empirical study that help to shape this study.

a) Theoretical Frame Work

i. Self-Theory

This theory was propounded by Carl roger (1959). The theory focused on the individual subjective perception of self. The world and the self-redeemed the world, Carl roger theory (1959, 1961) grew out of his client centered approach to psychotherapy and behavior change. Like psychoanalysis the theory grew from effort to help trouble people but Rogers theory does not involve conflict personality structure or stages of development instead, Roger emphasized the whole of experience, the phenomenal field. This is the individual subjective frame of references. It may not correspond the external reality.

The theory posited that the self is an important climate in the experience and in some odd sense his goal was to become his real self. That is, self-person would like to be trouble occurs when there are mismatching or incongruence, the perceived self may not match the idea of self, and this can be very disturbing. And because we need esteem, we may distort perception of our experience in self-sinking ways. In doing this, we may use condition of worth characteristic of our behavior that we may learn in childhood to associate with acceptance or disapproval.

ii. Biological Theory

The theory posited that there is some structure in the nervous system that contains nuclei and fiber traits which are related to biological sort, a desire for pleasure; hypothalamus is the organ responsible for such behavior, family history, adoption and twins. Studies suggest that genetics play a substantial role in at least some form of behaviors, which psychoactive substance use is not in absinthial (Devor, 1994). The biological perspective shares some important assumption and practice, one share assumption is that behavior of both people and animals should be considered in terms of biological functioning.

How the individual nerve cell are joined together, how the inheritance characteristics from parents and other ancestors influence behavior, how the functioning of the body affects hopes and fear, what behavior are due to instincts. (Feldman R.S, 1997). Chromosomal inheritance and metabolic unbalance all result to behavior that has this chemicals can have direct reinforcing effect on the brain that may be intimately involved in the effect of psychoactive substances is the mesolimbic dopamine system. This system is activated by natural reward of many kinds, such as the taste of good food and the physical pleasure. Chronic use of substance may produce permanent changes in the mesolimbic dopamine system, causing craving for this substance. (Nolen its, 1998).

iii. Behavioural Theory

Behavioral oriented scholars subscribe to the view that all behaviors are learnt. Following from this theoretical premise, substances and behaviors are learnt in the same manner that normal behaviors are learnt. There are several theoretical explanations as to how this takes place particularly in the recognition of the role of the reinforcement in the learning process.

Learning is a consequence of reward, incentive or reinforcement and punishment obtained by the organism for responding to environmental demand or stimulations. Just as stated by this theory, human behavior and personality are shaped by reinforcement, psychoactive substance use behaviors are not in an exception. The tendency for one to use or abuse substances depend on reinforcement, him or she receives from the environment. (Watson, 1910).

b) Empirical Review

Substance or substance abuse will be described according to psychodynamic (Freudian) theory from a developmental perspective. Psychodynamic theories believe that people vulnerable to substance abuse have powerful dependency need that can be traced to their early years (Johnson, R., 2015). They claimed that when parent failed to satisfy a young child need for nurturance, the child is likely to grow up depending on the other for help and comfort, trying to find to the nurturance that was lacking during their early years. If this search for outside support includes experimentation with substance, the person may develop a dependent relationship with the substance which they lead to substance abuse (Joane, J., 2014). Some psychodynamic theory also believes that certain people respond to their early deprivation by developing a substance abuse personality that leave them particularly prone to substance abuse. Personality inventory and patience interview have in fact indicate that people who abuse substance or dependent on substances tend to be more dependent antisocial, impulsive, nobility-seeking and depressive than other people. These findings are correlated, however, and do not clarify whether such personality traits lead to substance abuse or whether substance use cause people to be dependent, impulsive, and so on (Brown, 2011).

In summary, certain theories has provided a developmental view which may be helpful in understanding some of the specify traits which have been found to correlate with the abuse of alcohol and other substance. However, overall, this theoretical perspective has not provided much assistance in the everyday treatment as substance abuse (Freud, 1856-1939).

c) Hypotheses

i. There will be a significant difference in self-esteem of male and female in the perception of psychoactive substance use.

ii. Students with high self-esteem will have significantly more negative perception of psychoactive substance use than students with low self-esteem.

III. METHOD

a) Design

A survey research method was adopted among Nasarawa State University Undergraduate, Keffi.

b) Participants

The participants of the study were sample of student of Nasarawa state university Keffi, the participants were randomly selected; all the participants in the larger students population were given equal chances to be selected for the study. The sampling techniques that was used took consideration of equal male and female participants, by distributing 100 (one hundred) questionnaires that was designed by the researcher. In other to reflect the equitable representation of the entire student's population, four department of the university were randomly selected for the study. The participant age range from (18-40) years.

c) Instrument

Questionnaires are the major instrument that was used by the researcher for the study. The questionnaire was designed by the researcher for data collected, it contain two section A and B, the section A is made up of personal data and instruction to guide the participants on how they should full the questionnaires. Section B comprises of 19 items. The questionnaires was designed according to the liked question format, where each item have 5(five) responses which consist of "strongly disagree", "disagree", "strongly agree" and "neutral".

d) Procedures

One hundred (100) questionnaires were administered to randomly sampled participants of the Nasarawa state university keffi, the four departments that were randomly picked are geography department, Political science department, history department and CRS department. The participants were approached in their lecture hall immediately after their lectures through the assistance of their various class captains.

e) Statistics Used

Chi-square was used by the researcher for data presentation and analysis Ax2x2 factorial design.

IV. RESULTS

For the purpose of this study, the data collected were analyzed and the hypotheses stated were tested using SPSS v20 (Statistical Program for Social Sciences) for more clarifications.

a) Test of Hypotheses

Hypothesis 1: There will with be a significant difference in self-esteem of male and female in the perception of substance.

The table 1 above shows the level of self-esteem of male and female. The result does not indicate statistical significant difference in the level of self-esteem of male and female: Hence the result is not significant from the table above the calculated $X^2=0.25$; df=1; p>0.05.

Hypothesis II: Student with high self-esteem will have significantly more negative perception of psychoactive substance use than students with low self-esteem. Table 2: Summary of Chi-square value on Academic Performance difference on Self-esteem.

Field survey, 2021

The table 2 above revealed that people with low self-esteem indulge more in psychoactive substance use towards academic performance. Hence the result supported the hypothesis, by using chi-square analysis it was calculated thus; $X^2=1.8$; df=1; p>0.05

V. DISCUSSION

The first hypothesis state that there will be a significant difference in the self-esteem of male and female in the perception of psychoactive substance use. The result of hypothesis one on the first variable "self-esteem and sex" is revealed in table 1 and the result of table one does not show support to the hypothesis. Hence, previously documented findings that some individuals have a higher self-esteem than others do, this attribute can have a profound influence on the way they think and feel about themselves was confirmed (Adesina S., 2015).

The second hypothesis stated that students with high self-esteem will have significantly more negative perception of psychoactive substance use that students with low self-esteem. The findings of hypothesis II is presented in tables 2 and the result of table 2 shows support for the hypothesis that students with high self-esteem have negative perception of psychoactive substance use towards academic performances. This is because they have objective judgment of their actions and reactions to social demands than students with low self-esteem which are very easy to be influenced by others to do certain things. Their moral reason is low when compared with those with high self-esteem (Char, D., 2019).

VI. CONCLUSION

From the foregoing analysis, one basic fact is that, its stands out, that there is a significant difference when comparing the number of students with high self-esteem and those with low self-esteem under psychoactive substance use. The two hypotheses that were tested in this study have presented the fundamental on the influence of psychoactive substance use on students' self-esteem in respect of agreement and disagreement (Cohen, 2019). The numbers of students with low self-esteem were greater than those with high self-esteem, but the result shows statistically significant because students with high self-esteem were rated low in psychoactive substance use index. Base on the difference in the self-esteem between the genders, female score low on high self-esteem while male score high in high self-esteem, however, the difference were not statistically significant because female were rated high in perception of psychoactive substance use than the male, it was concluded that female do not abuse substance like their male counterparts because of environmental, cultural expectation and the physiological effect of substance in their body system. They enjoy seeing people abusing substance, but they will not experiment because of social sanction or punishment (Brockner, 2018).

VII. RECOMMENDATIONS

The findings from this research paper have led to the following recommendations.

i. More research should be carried out in the aspect of self-esteem and psychoactive substance use so as to cover other part. Since this study alone is not enough to make generalization about students in the whole country.

ii. It would be necessary to extend such investigation to finding relationship between self-esteem and other variables such as parental socio-economic background, assertions e.t.c. in tracing the antecedents of psychoactive substance use.

iii. In the university that was tested, the number of students with low self-esteem was greater than those with high self-esteem, the gap of the difference is too bad, it implies that the school should have room for improvement in this area. There should be a conscious effort to make this an essential part of schools. To operate and enhance students self-esteem and telling them the danger associated to psychoactive substance use.