Sociocultural factors, sensation seeking, and risk of exposure to substance abuse among Egyptian and Saudi undergraduates

Background: Substance abuse is a major public health issue worldwide, particularly manifesting during the late adolescent and early adult period. Each culture has distinct beliefs and unique ways of raising children. Cultural differences in parenting beliefs and behaviors are an interesting area that enhances understanding of the nature of differences across cultures. Substance abuse risk may be related to family sociocultural factors; however, there are limited studies that address the relationships between pertinent variables. Objective: To examine and compare family sociocultural factors, sensation seeking, and risk of drug involvement among Egyptian and Saudi university students. Methods: The study employed a comparative correlational descriptive design using two-stage cluster sampling techniques. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires distributed to students enrolled in Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU) in Saudi Arabia and Damanhur University (DU) in Egypt. Results: The study showed that Egyptian and Saudi students with a higher percentage of supportive parent relationships have less risk of drug involvement. In both countries, cigarette smoking was the first substance used. Moreover, factors predicting the risk of drug involvement and regression analysis revealed that male students had five times more risk of drug involvement than their female peers, keeping all other factors constant (OR = 5.734; 95%CI:3.231-10.174), while highly supportive paternal relationship reduced the risk of drug involvement by 85% (OR = 0.148; 95% CI: 0.045-0.489). Conclusion: The risk for substance abuse in both cultural settings was moderate, and smoking was the most common substance used. Moreover, a highly supportive paternal relationship reduced the risk of drug involvement by 85%.