David Igbokwe

Assessment of Health-related Locus of Control among Undergraduates Substance Users and Non-Users

- Introduction: Locus of control is one of the most extensively investigated psychological constructs in literature and the purpose of the study was to assess health-related locus of control among undergraduate’s substance users and non-users. Methods: Data from 574 students between ages 18 and 27 (n= 574, mean=21.15 (+/- 1.8years) was collected from five tertiary institutions in AdoOdo-Ota LGA, Nigeria. An adapted and validatedversion of the World Health Organization (WHO) questionnaire on drug use surveys and the multidimensional health locus of control (MHLC) which was designed to measure the degree to which an individual feels they are in control of their ownhealth were employed for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferentialstatistics.Three research hypotheses were raised and tested. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The preliminary result shows that there is no significant difference in the health-related locus of control between substance users and non-users, and between heavy and occasional drinkers, but there exist significant differences based on gender. Conclusion: This article discusses the implications of these findings especially in the area of health education and the use of health locus of control measures Adekeye, Olujide A.b,c , Agoha, Ben C.a , Adeusi, Sussan O.b , Igbokwe, David O.a , Olowookere, Elizabeth I.a , Elegbeleye, Ayo O.a and Sholarin, Muyiwa A.a

EFFECT OF SLEEP PATTERN ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

There have been studies that demonstrate the impact of sleep on both implicit and explicit memory. Of particular interest is that sleep has been shown to aid memory consolidation. This holds some implication for students, most of whom sleep for considerably very little amount of time, whereas they require sufficient amount of sleep to consolidate memory for material learned during the day. This study was therefore designed to investigate the possible impact of sleep on the academic achievement of undergraduate students. The study participants were 300 undergraduate students drawn from about twenty Department of a private university in Nigeria. 152 of the participants were female and the rest were male. The School Sleep Survey Habit Scale previously validated in Nigeria by one of the authors (IDO) was used to measure sleep habit, while academic performance was measured as self-reported grade. The result of Analysis of variance using SPSS XX showed a significant effect of Sleepiness on Academic Performance F (8, 211)=3.73, P<.01, and on Cumulative Grade Point Average, F (4, 190) = 3.82, P<.005. The study also showed that stimulant intake significantly impacted on Sleep habit. It was concluded that to enhance students academic achievement counseling centres should endeavour to include sleep in their orientation programme for students. Besides, it would be necessary not to cram up the programme in such a manner that would rob the students of adequate rest and sleep.