Parenting styles and substance abuse among Muslim students in secondary schools in Nakaloke Town Council, Mbale City, Uganda

Purpose: The study examined the relationship between parenting styles and substance abuse among Muslim students in secondary schools in Nakaloke Town Council, Mbale City, Uganda. Methodology : The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design with both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A sample of 322 students and 5 parents were selected using simple random and convenience sampling strategies respectively. A self-administered questionnaire for students and an interview guide for parents were the instruments used during data collection. Quantitative data was analyzed using correlation and multiple regressions while qualitative data was based on thematic analysis. Findings: The study revealed that there is a statistically significant relationship between authoritarian parenting style and substance abuse (r= -.850, p<.05), authoritative parenting style and substance abuse (r= -.266, p<.05), and permissive parenting style and substance abuse (r=.570, p<.05). Overall, parenting styles indicate a positive and strong effect on substance abuse (R 2 = .862, p < .05). Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: The study recommended that parents should be stricter with children so that they can behave well. Additionally, parents should always discuss their expectations and decisions with their children to help them understand why they are asked not to do something. Lastly, parents should not allow their children to do whatever they want without some control and monitoring being done.

Parenting styles and substance abuse among Muslim students in secondary schools in Nakaloke Town Council, Mbale City, Uganda Introduction Anxiety and depression are some of the problems faced by children and their outcome has been violence and substance abuse.In the last twenty years, researchers have given considerable attention to the behavioural problems of children including internalization and externalization (Alizadeh et al., 2011).Substance abuse perhaps is a highly inevitable social problem in the world.The adolescents engage in substance abuse and other bad acts due to their identity confusion (Afful et al., 2021).Yet the abuse of substances like alcohol leads to the deaths of about 2.5 million people every year and the majority being the young ones (World Health Organization, 2014).Substance abuse has devastating effects on a person, family members, and even the community.Globally, students' engagement in substance abuse has been increasing.In the survey done in Europe in 2011 on alcohol and drugs by the European School Survey Project, it indicated that about 87% of teenagers (15-16 years) have ever consumed alcohol, 54% used cigarettes, and 18% used drugs.It indicated that in Sweden 46% of the teenagers had ever been victims of alcohol use in a period of a year back, 14% had ever used cigarettes and 8% said to have been lifetime drug abusers (Hibell et al., 2012).In China, Shijun et al. (2015) revealed that the existence of drinking substances was 52.5%; likewise, 38.5% of the students reported having been drinkers in the previous year, while 20.1% of them had been consuming alcohol in the previous month.In another study, DuPont et al. (2013) reported that approximately 4% of students in the United States in the range of 12 to 17 years meet the criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence and 4.6% for abuse of other drugs.
In Africa, the case of substance abuse is also evidenced in different studies.For example in South Africa, a study by Chauke et al (2015) revealed that 35.5% of the male and 29.7% of the female secondary school students used alcohol.Although Europe is said to take the lead in alcohol consumption, Africa is believed to have many injuries, diseases and deaths connected to alcohol use for example 37 million lives are annually lost due to drug-related diseases (United Nations Report, 2013).In Uganda, a report by Uydel (2008) found that the problem of substance abuse is increasing and it revealed that 25% of mental cases are connected to substance abuse.The increased rate of substance abuse was linked to issues like family disruptions, dropouts from school, and social disturbances.Another study conducted by Abbo et al. (2017) among students ranging from 12 to 24 years in Gulu and Kampala secondary schools in Uganda indicated that 70% of the students reported having ever engaged in alcohol and illicit drug abuse and 39% reported that they regularly abused substances.Children in secondary schools in Uganda abuse substances and those in boarding end up smuggling sachets of drugs by placing them in the middle of their mattresses, and even some female students even pack alcohol and drugs in packets of sanitary towels e.g."Always" (Kirya, 2019).In school A located in Nakaloke Town Council, it was revealed that on average, 5 cases are registered monthly concerning substance abuse among students (Disciplinary records of School A).
A family is a social unit or section of people which has a great impact on the behaviours and character development of children.In case the leaders of the family (parents) are ignorant about better ways of parenting, then the results may be misbehaviour problems like substance abuse in the children.This claim is supported by Mcmorris et al. (2010) who said that parents' engagement in the lives of their children has a big effect on their behaviours in society.Parents have to play a big role in helping their children especially adolescents face challenges which may include the use of substances like alcohol and drugs although their contribution is not implicit enough (Mwania & Njagi, 2018).According to Baumrind (1966), parents play a vital role in the nurturing of children.He made use of two terms to explain the styles that is demandingness and responsiveness.Demandingness simply meant the level of control exerted on the child while responsiveness meant the level of sensitivity to the needs of the child.These two terms were used to explain the different parenting styles like authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive.Later on, Maccoby and Martin (1983) added the neglectful style to make up four styles.In this study, the researcher will make use of authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting styles to establish their relationship with substance abuse.
Although several studies have been conducted on substance abuse like Becona et al. (2012), Berge et al. (2016), and Mwania and Njagi (2018), little effort has been put into ascertaining the relationship between parenting styles and substance abuse among Muslim students in Nakaloke Town Council.Yet substance abuse is given much attention as one of the prohibited acts in Islam.Thus the researchers were prompted to investigate the relationship between parenting styles and substance abuse among Muslim students.

Research hypotheses
H01 There is no statistically significant relationship between authoritarian parenting style and substance abuse among Muslim students in secondary schools in Nakaloke Town Council, Mbale City.
H02 There is no statistically significant relationship between authoritative parenting style and substance abuse among Muslim students in secondary schools in Nakaloke Town Council, Mbale City.
H03 There is no statistically significant relationship between permissive parenting style and substance abuse among Muslim students in secondary schools in Nakaloke Town Council, Mbale City.

Theoretical Review
The study was guided by Baumrind's (1966) Pillar theory.According to Baumrind (1966), parents play a vital role in the nurturing of children.He made use of two terms to explain the parenting styles which are demandingness and responsiveness.Demandingness means the level of control exerted on the child while responsiveness refers to the level of sensitivity to the needs of the child.Baumrind (1966) came up with three styles of parenting; authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive.This study adopted the three parenting styles initiated by this theory to relate them to substance abuse.This theory was also used by Alizadeh (2011), Becona et al. (2012), and Berge et al. (2016).This theory laid a platform for other theorists who discussed the concept of parenting styles.However, the theory does not emphasize the point of bonding between parents and children which is crucial for promoting discipline and good behaviour among children, and social bonding theory comes in to fill this gap.Social bonding theory was initiated by Travis Hirschi in the year 1969.Hirschi (1969) believes that deviant behaviour comes as a result of a weaker or rather broken bond between an individual and society.He contends that the bond created between the parents or family and the child is of great benefit to the conformity in the behaviour of the child.This means that in case there is a great attachment for the two parties then the child is most likely to behave well and prevents engagement in substance abuse.This theory was also used by Clark and Gauchi (2012) in their study about the relationship between family and substance use among Maltese university students.This theory helps to provide a prevention measure against substance abuse by children.

Authoritarian Parenting Style and Substance Abuse
Authoritarian parenting style is a style used by parents to direct the behaviours of children and is characterized by high demands and low responsiveness.Several studies have been conducted in relation to the authoritarian parenting style and substance abuse.Matejevic et al. (2014) studied family relationships and parenting styles in families of adolescents with substance abuse problems.
The study revealed a significant difference in parenting styles between adolescents with addiction issues and those without.The study also revealed that there is a statistically significant influence of authoritarian parenting on the substance abuse of children.Similarly, a study by King et al. (2015) found that authoritarian parenting style was a significant predictor of marijuana use among Hispanic youth.In a study by Samuel and Changwony (2019) conducted in Kenya, it was revealed that an authoritarian parenting style can lead to dysfunctional behaviours such as drug abuse among students.The study further recommended that parents should have reasonable expectations of their children to promote positive behaviours.Bello (2015) carried out a study on parenting styles and academic achievement in primary schools in Uganda and revealed that there is a significant relationship between authoritarian parenting style and achievement motivation.However, Nkurunungi (2018) in a study done in some schools in Uganda, used a correlation design and revealed that the authoritarian style of parenting has no significant relationship with substance abuse.

Authoritative Parenting Style and Substance Abuse
The authoritative parents give rules and regulations to their children and also provide them with an explanation or reason as to why they should follow them.Most studies have reported that the authoritative parenting style has the best outcomes regarding children's substance abuse (Becoña et al., 2012).This means that the authoritative style promotes good behaviours like abstinence from substance abuse.Studies have revealed that authoritative parents are most likely to have few drug-abusing children (Becoña et al., 2012;Martínez-Loredo et al., 2016).The literature below provides valuable insights into the relationship between authoritative parenting style and substance abuse-related behaviours.Changalwa et al. (2012) found a significant relationship between authoritative parenting style and alcohol abuse among college students in Kenya.This study emphasizes the importance of parental influence on substance use behaviours.Similarly, Brewer (2017) highlighted the role of parental involvement or positive parenting actions in reducing engagement in substance use among adolescents from diverse racial backgrounds.
In another study on the influence of parenting styles on children's behaviour, Merlin et al. (2013) reported that the guiding parenting style (characterized by high responsiveness and demandingness) has fewer negative effects on children's behaviour than the controlling and permissive styles.Mak and Lacovou (2019) reinforced the significance of warmth in parenting as a measure of protecting children against problems like substance use in the United Kingdom.A recommendation was made that parents should be warm and responsive to children and adolescents to reduce the chances of substance use in the future.These results are similar to those of Kamonges et al. (2023) who reported a positive impact of authoritative parenting style on personality development among secondary school students in Uganda.By using a correlational design and a sample of 385 students, this study emphasizes the importance of parental influence on shaping the behaviours and attitudes of children.

Permissive Parenting Style and Substance Abuse
Permissive parents are said to have less warmth and control, and the literature presented discusses the relationship between it and substance abuse.In a study on family and substance use among Maltese university students conducted by Clark and Gauchi (2012), it was revealed that children who reported their parents to be permissive had more chances of engaging in alcohol.Similarly, Gboyega et al. (2014) carried out a study on parenting styles and peer pressure as predictors of substance abuse in university students in Nigeria and it was revealed that the permissive style of parenting was significantly linked with more cases of substance abuse.In contrast to earlier findings, Martínez-Loredo et al. ( 2016) discovered that permissive parenting is one of the styles branded as protector factors against substance abuse among Spanish adolescents.In the same way, Odhiambo et al. (2020) revealed that a good relationship between parents and children helps to overcome cases of drug abuse.Nasiru's (2015) study is not different from the recently reviewed ones since it revealed that there is a high and significant relationship between permissive parenting style and academic performance of students.
Previous studies focused on general adolescent populations and some specific ethnic groups like Hispanic youths in the United States.The studies did not specifically address the nuances and religious backgrounds of the respondents.Given the fact that the current study addresses Muslim students in Uganda, it was essential to consider how cultural and religious factors may influence parenting styles and substance abuse behaviours.Besides, some studies focused on relatively small sample sizes and specific grade levels limiting the generalizability of findings, hence making this study more relevant because it ensured representativeness.By addressing these gaps, the current study contributed valuable insights to the field of education.

Research Design
The study used a cross-sectional survey design with both quantitative and qualitative methods used concurrently as supported by Amin (2005), who emphasized it more so when the study involves investigating opinions of people.

Sample and Sampling techniques
A sample of 322 students was taken based on Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) sample size determination Table from the 2003 Muslim students in the 3 identified schools using simple random sampling and 5 parents were selected using convenience technique.

Data Collection tools
The Parenting Styles and Substance Abuse Questionnaire (PSSAQ) was adapted from the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) developed by Buri (1989) to measure the authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive styles of parenting based on a 5-Likert scale.An interview guide was used for the parents to triangulate the data based on the views of Creswell (2012).

Validity and Reliability
The content and construct validity of the questionnaire and interview guide were ensured with the help of 3 experts from the Department of Educational Psychology to evaluate the questions.The experts were asked to comment on each question as relevant, irrelevant, or needs improvement.The content validity index was then computed (0.8) and evaluated based on the views of Amin (2005).Pilot testing was done to check the reliability of the questionnaire by giving it to some 10 students from one of the Muslim-founded secondary schools in the Industrial division in Mbale City.Interrater form of reliability was used for the interview guide based on the views of Creswell (2012).A Cronbach was later computed and gave a value for all the 28 items as .826which is regarded as preferable by (Pallant, 2007).

Data Analysis
The data from the questionnaires were presented in form of frequency tables (frequency, percentages, and mean) using descriptive data analysis and analyzed using the inferential statistics method in order to analyze the relationship between authoritarian, authoritative and permissive parenting styles and substance abuse.The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was computed to determine the strength, direction and significance of the relationship between parenting styles and substance abuse and multiple regression to determine the degree to which the different parenting styles are related to substance abuse.

Results and Discussion
The study analyzed the relationship between parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) and substance abuse among Muslim students in secondary schools in Nakaloke Town Council, Mbale City.Out of the 322 questionnaires administered, 274 were returned implying a response rate of 85% which is beyond the ideal and recommended one of 70% to 80% basing on Gordon (2002).  2 further revealed that the majority of the students came from senior three (31%) followed by those from senior two (29.6%).Students from senior four made up 21.5% and 17.9% were from senior six.

Respondents on Substance Abuse
The findings in this section were interpreted cumulatively that is "Always" was combined with "Often", and "Sometimes" was combined with "Rarely".But "Never" was reported independently.According to the results of Table 3, the majority of the respondents revealed that they take alcohol on rare occasions represented by 77.7%, and the overall mean score of 2.74 implied that students sometimes take alcohol.This is contrary to the comment made by a parent during an interview that "these days, especially since corona came many students in the whole world are taking alcohol, mairunji even kuber." Similarly, another parent in the interview reported that;

"Our children are getting spoilt in the village you see many children using this drug and that I really don't know what is wrong but these days ahhhhh! It's a wrong generation."
The qualitative data was supported by the findings of Abbo et al. (2017) who revealed that 70% of the students had ever used substances.The above discussion can be concluded that many students take alcohol in Nakaloke Town Council because of the trust in qualitative data from the parents, and also the empirical findings.The students could also have feared revealing the facts since the question was sensitive.
For the case of Marijuana, majority (92.3%) of the respondents revealed that they have never taken it, and the mean score of 1.18 also implied that an average number of students have never used Marijuana.This is contrary to the comment made by Kirya (2019) who wrote about illicit drugs and alcohol abuse in Uganda and said that the situation in Uganda is so worrying because people are behaving as if they are unaware of the dangers of using illicit drugs.
On the issue of cocaine, the majority (92.3%) of the respondents revealed that they have never taken it and the mean score of 1.19 implied that on average, students never use cocaine.The findings are contrary to those of Akora (2019) who carried out a study on drug abuse in Mbale district in Uganda and concluded that cocaine is among the substances consumed within the area.However, since the majority of the respondents said they have never used cocaine, it can be concluded in the same way because there is only one empirical study that contradicts it.
On the point of using other substances that were not prescribed by any medical officer, the majority (84.6%) said they always do and the mean score of 4.04 implied that on average, students often use other substances when not prescribed by any medical officer.These results were in line with the interview data collected from a certain parent who said "haaaaa for sure children are using these things and…….we even don't know what they take but you see a child, for example, putting something in the mouth and it smells bad others like I have ever seen some somewhere sitting and taking something like a cigarette but it was as if in a pot for sure the world is gone".
The above results are in line with those of Abbo et al. (2017) who revealed that there are some other substances consumed by students in Uganda like tobacco, shisha, and kuber.
For the case of reading books only after consuming some substances, majority (87.6%) went against this statement and the mean score of 1.28 implied that on average, students have never taken substances for reading books.On the point of consuming a substance for the purpose of getting energy, majority (71.5%) of the respondents revealed that they always do so and the mean score got was 3.67 which implied that on average, students often consume substances to get energy.Lastly, majority of the respondents (86.5%) revealed that they have never taken substances for the reason of living a good life and this is reflected with the mean score got was 1.36.

Responses on Authoritarian Parenting Style
The findings in this section were interpreted cumulatively that is "Strongly Agree" was combined with "Agree", and "Strongly Disagree" was combined with "Disagree".2019) who revealed that most of the parents were noted to be flexible and generally authoritative, which is characterized by less force used on children.However, the mean of 2.84 implied that on average, students are not sure about their parents' behaviour in regards to using force.This was contrary to a comment made in an interview by a certain parent who said "children do not know what is good for them and I believe they should be forced whenever you want good results from them and that is what I always do with mine." Table 4 further revealed that the majority of the respondents (68.6%) had parents who expect their children to do what they have been told immediately without asking any questions and this is also reflected in the mean value of 3.55.This is in line with the findings of Mwania and Njagi (2018) who revealed that the majority of the parents apply behaviours of authoritarian parenting like expecting children to do what they are told immediately without asking questions.
Furthermore, table 4 shows that the majority of the respondents (68.2%) have parents who allow them to question their decisions, as it is reflected in the mean got (2.36).However, the results were contrary to the comment made by a certain parent who said "me at home I do not tolerate some fake questions from children and they know me I am not after jokes when I say that do this they don't even say a word to me".
This implied that some parents tend to have characters of authoritarian style of parenting where no room for questions from children is provided.This is believed to have some negative results on the behaviours of children.
Table 4 also communicated that the majority of the respondents (58.7%) had parents who do not believe in using force to make children behave well.However, the mean score was 2.66 which indicated that on average, students are not sure about whether their parents believe in using force to get children to behave well or not.The percentage results are in line with the findings of Sarwar (2016) that revealed that most parents do not believe in using force on their children.Furthermore, it was noted that the majority of the respondents (58.8%) revealed that their parents would get very upset if they tried to disagree with them.However, the mean of 3.39 got implies that on average, respondents are not sure about this claim.
Table 4 further revealed that the greatest percentage of the respondents making up to 45.2% agreed that their parents hardly communicated their expectations with them and punished them whenever they failed to meet the expectations.However the mean score of the responses was 2.95 which indicated on average, students are not sure about their parents' communicating their expectations to them.This was contrary to some comment from a parent in an interview who said

" I always try my level best to inform my children of what I want and what I don't want so that they don't say aaaaaaah daddy you didn't tell us this you didn't tell us that."
However, this contradiction can imply that this parent simply tries but doesn't do all that is expected in communicating the expectations to children, and even the expectations cannot be exhausted by any parent.Therefore what the students revealed still stands, that majority of the parents do not communicate their expectations to them.On the point of strictness, the majority of the respondents (62.4%) agreed that their parents feel that most problems in the society would be solved if parents could be so strict on their children.This is contrary to one of the parent's comments made during an interview where she said "I think being so strict in parenting is not the issue in parenting but it is showing the child the rightful path…….though in showing that child the right path you have to get rules and regulations but it should not be like a prison, talk to the child tell him or her for example by this time, for example, a girl child you should be at home because there are very many risks we have rapists and other risks." However, it could be that this is one of the few parents who are not strict because the majority of the students revealed they have parents who believe in being so strict.The results revealed that there is a strong negative and statistically significant relationship between authoritarian parenting style and substance abuse (r=-.850,p<.05).This implied that the null hypothesis was rejected hence there is a statistically significant relationship between authoritarian parenting style and substance abuse.This means that authoritarian parenting has an influence on the children's engagement in substance abuse in that the more authoritarian a parent is the lesser the chances of substance abuse in children.The findings are in line with those of King et al. (2015), Samuel and Changwony (2019), but are contrary to the Social bonding theory used in this study.
The theory advocates for a bond that should be created between a child and a parent in a way of reducing the different kinds of immoralities like engagement in substance abuse.

Responses on Authoritative Parenting Style
The findings in this section were interpreted cumulatively that is "Strongly Agree" was combined with "Agree", and "Strongly Disagree" was combined with "Disagree".The data in Table 6 reveals that the majority of the respondents (54.7%) have parents who promote compromises in the family rules and restrictions that are unreasonable.However, the mean score was 3.15 which indicated that on average, students are not sure about their parents' reaction to them whenever they don't obey the rules set.In line with the percentages given, they were supported by the comments made by some parents in an interview that "at home sometimes I sit down with my children and ask them about the rules whether they are of benefit to them and even forgive them where they fail to fulfil any but I don't make it a habit because they may take it jokingly." The above findings are contrary to those of Mwania and Njagi (2018) who revealed that many parents do not have time for discussing matters concerning family rules with their children but rather expect them to just follow.On the point of directing activities and decisions to reasoning, the majority of the respondents (70.8%) agreed that their parents do so and this is also communicated with the mean value of 3.68.This is in line with findings of Merlin et al. (2013) where the respondents revealed that the parents direct their activities and behaviours.This was evidenced by the comment made in an interview where a parent said "For me, I make sure that I tell my children what is good and bad and for example, when they grow like in primary there I separate them boys sleep alone and girls then I tell them to avoid playing with people of the opposite sex especially if they are not your relatives because others have bad characters…..I even tell them Islam is again that." Further analysis of the data in Table 6 revealed that the majority (77.4%) of the respondents had parents who did not only communicate their expectations but also encouraged children to feel free to discuss those expectations.The mean score of 3.80 also supports the previous claim.Not only have that, the majority of the respondents' (68.2%) parents made reasonable demands on their children.The mean score got of 3.58 also implied that on average, students agreed that their parents make reasonable demands on them.For the point of adjusting behaviour standards to meet the needs of the family, the majority (62.4%) of the respondents had parents with this character.
Table 6 also revealed that the majority (70.4%) of the respondents revealed that their parents are always willing to discuss their concerns and this is also represented with the mean score of 3.67.Lastly, the parents of most respondents (46.0%) are proved to be always understanding whenever children disagree with the directions given to them.This is in line with the voice of a certain parent in an interview who said "Sometimes when my children fail to make it on what I have asked them to do I call them we sit and talk like big people." The above findings concurred with those of Aremu et al. (2019) that indicated that the majority of the parents use the authoritative parenting style where less force is used on children but rather more guidance and care are utilized.The results of Table 8 indicated that the majority of the respondents (60.6%) revealed that their parents do not believe in children having their own way for the home to be run-well.This is contrary to the findings of Nasiru (2015) that indicated that the majority of the students had parents who believe that children should have their way as often as parents do.However, quantitative data was supported by the comment made by a parent that; "It is not good to leave children to do what they want to do and some parents leave children to decide on their own like the school to go to, and whom to play with.This is not good at all that's why children these days are so spoilt." The results also showed that the majority of the respondents' (63.9%) parents do not believe in children being free to make up their own minds and do what they want.This is in line with the mean score of 2.48 which is against the claim in the table.These results are in line with those of Nkurunungi (2018) whose findings revealed that most of the parents were overprotective on their children.The results further communicated that the greatest percentage of students (58.3%) have parents who rarely give them expectations and guidelines for their behaviours.This is contrary to the comments made by some parents who said "I sit down with my children and show them the dangers of some behaviours because they will be able to understand.so I talk to them and show them how the world is." In support of this interview data, another parent said that  2020) who suggested that parents should closely monitor and control the activities of the children in the family to prevent them from misbehaving in the community.
On the point of allowing children to decide, majority of the respondents (62.4%) revealed that their parents do not allow children to decide most of the things for themselves.This is also supported with the mean score got of 2.48 implying that on average, students disagreed with the claim that their parents allow children to decide most of the things in the family.Lastly, the majority of the respondents have parents who believe that children should not be left to do whatever they feel like doing.This was contrary to the findings of Bello (2015) that concluded that most of the parents do not criticize their children even when they go against their expectations.The quantitative data was supported by interview results where a certain parent said; "I don't believe in being so strict on children but again leaving them that they do what they want aaaaaah that's also a big mistake because these children if you don't be on them sometimes they get spoilt so according to me in my family I don't give them that too much freedom by the way."The results (r=.570) revealed the existence of a strong and positive relationship between permissive parenting style and substance abuse.Considering the p-value (sig = .000p< .05), it was concluded that there is a statistically significant relationship between permissive parenting style and substance abuse.This implied that the null hypothesis was rejected hence there is a statistically significant relationship between permissive parenting style and substance abuse.This therefore means that the permissive parents are most likely to promote and enhance children's engagement in the abuse of substances since they are characterized by less control.The children of permissive parents tend to be so free to engage in any act whether good or bad because there is no immediate person to stop them.The findings concurred with those of Mak and Lacovou (2019) who revealed that there is a significant influence of permissive parenting on substance use, but are contrary to the social bonding theory used in this study.

Regression Analysis
Regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between the parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) and substance abuse.Multiple regression analysis was done to find out which of the predictors (parenting styles) is stronger than the others.The results were presented in table 10.From the analysis that was made on the data, the model is observed to be statistically significant (p (F = 75.671)= .000b ).All the three predictors (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) incorporated in the regression model are statistically significant.From the model summary table, the coefficient of determination or the R-square value is .862indicating that the combined predictors; authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive styles explain 86.2% of the variations in the outcome of Substance abuse.The adjusted R-Square value is .853which indicates the R-Square that would have been obtained from the population from which the sample is chosen is observed to be similar to the R-Square value of .862.This is an indication that the model derived from the sample data reflects a good representation of the population.From the coefficients table, all the predictors are noted to be statistically significant.However Authoritarian style is noted to be a stronger predictor compared to authoritative and permissive based on the Standardized Coefficients (Beta) as indicated in table 10.2.

Conclusion
The study findings revealed that the more authoritarian and authoritative parents are, the lesser the chances of children engaging in substance abuse and vice versa.However, findings communicated that high levels of permissive style lead to high chances of student engagement in substance abuse.

Recommendations
The following recommendations were drawn based on the findings: i.
Parents should be stricter with children so that they can behave well.Parents need to be demanding on children in order to prevent them from engaging in substance abuse.Parents should monitor the type of peers their children move with.They should also attend school activities like visitation day, PTA meetings and others.ii.
Parents should always discuss their expectations and decisions with their children to help them understand why they are asked not to do something.They should spare some time at home and talk to the children as a parent and inform them about what you need them to do. iii.
Parents should not allow their children to do whatever they want without some control and monitoring being done.This can be possible by the use of rules and regulations on children and being close to them as they engage in the different activities.

Table 1 :
Table of Interpretation of Mean Scores Source: Adapted from Bringula et al. (2019)

Table 2 :
Demographic Characteristics of the RespondentsTable 2 indicated that the majority of the respondents were males that is 61.3% of the total respondents and 38.7% were female.This can as well imply that there are more males than females in secondary schools in Nakaloke Town Council since the sampling technique used gave room for equal chances in the selection.Table

Table 3 :
Responses on Substance Abuse

Table 4 :
Responses on Authoritarian Parenting StyleTable4revealed that majority of the respondents (51.8%) had parents who do not force children to conform to what is right.These results are supported by the findings ofAremu et al. (

Table 5 :
Relationship between Authoritarian Parenting Style and Substance Abuse

Table 6 :
Responses on Authoritative Parenting Style

Table 8 :
Responses on Permissive Parenting Style "You see for me in my family we sometimes come together during some meals or even like at night even if it's not mealtime I tell my children about what the world needs now and even what Islam says for example how to respect people."Table8furtherrevealedthat the majority of the respondents (50.4%) have parents who give them chance to do what they want whenever it comes to decision making.Besides, most respondents had parents who believe that children should be restricted in their activities.This is supported by the views ofOdhiambo et al. (

Table 9 :
Relationship between Permissive Parenting Style and Substance Abuse **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 10 :
Multiple Regression Analysis Between Parenting Styles and Substance Abuse