Survey data on socioeconomic demographics of drug-free families living in high-risk drug environments in East Coast States of Peninsular Malaysia

TL;DR

This paper presents survey data on drug-free families in high-risk drug areas in Malaysia to help improve youth drug prevention programs.

Contribution

The study provides new survey data on socioeconomic factors of drug-free families in high-risk environments.

Findings

200 responses were collected from drug-free families in high-risk drug areas.

The data includes socioeconomic demographics and involvement in drug prevention programs.

Descriptive analysis was used to summarize the findings for policymakers and researchers.

Abstract

The dataset represents the socioeconomic demographic of drug-free families living in a high-risk drug environment in East Coast states of Peninsular Malaysia. The purposive sampling technique was used to choose among drug free families living in high drug environment, have children aged between 13 and 17 and none of the family members involved in any substance abuse cases via face-to-face interview questionnaires between 3rd April 2021 and 8th April 2021, gathering a total of 200 responses. The survey assessing socioeconomic demographic information (14 items) and involvement in drug prevention programs (8 items). The survey data was analyzed using descriptive analysis through frequencies and percentages. The data will assist the government, policymakers, and researchers to improve the content and delivery of family-based drug prevention programs and improve family awareness on risk and protective factors towards preventing drug abuse among youths.

Full text

Specifications TableSubjectSocial StudiesSpecific subject areaSocial DevelopmentData formatRaw, Analysed, Filtered, Descriptive analysis statisticsType of dataTablesData collectionThe data was collected through a face-to-face interview questionnaire conducted with drug-free families in Malaysia using purposive sampling.Data source locationRegion: Asia Country; East Coast States of Peninsular MalaysiaData accessibilityRepository name: Mendeley DataData identification number: DOI:10.17632/gvrycbk9kv.1Direct URL to data: https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/gvrycbk9kv/1Instructions for accessing these data: Mendeley Data

Value of the Data

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• •The data are important because this is the first survey that analyzed the characteristics of drug free families living in high-risk drug environments in east coast states of Peninsular Malaysia.
• •The data represents the involvement of families in drug prevention programs organized by various agencies in Malaysia.
• •The data will be useful for researchers who want to compare with similar studies related to families and drug-related studies.
• •The dataset will help stimulate in-depth research on parents' risk and protective factors in preventing their family members from engaging in any substance abuse activities.
• •The data contributes important information for the government, policymakers, and researchers to improve the content and delivery of family-based drug prevention programs.
• •The objective of this survey data is to provide meaningful information regarding the socioeconomic demographic of drug free parents living in high risk drug environment and their involvement in drug prevention programs.

Background

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The objective of this survey data is to provide meaningful information regarding the socioeconomic demographic of drug free parents living in high risk drug environment and their involvement in drug prevention programs.

Data Description

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The data set provides insightful information based on a survey related to the socioeconomic demographics of drug-free parents living in high-risk environments and their involvement in drug prevention programs. The survey involved 200 families living in high-risk drug environments located in East Coast states of Peninsular Malaysia. The data includes a significant group of variables (A) socioeconomic demographic including; gender, age, race, marital status, place of current residents, number of children, number of children in primary school, number of children in secondary school, number of working children, number of children with disabilities, number of household members, level of education and employment categories, (B) parents involvement in drug prevention programs organised by various agencies including National Anti-Drug Agency, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sport, The National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN), Department of Information (Ministry of Communications and Multimedia), Department of National Unity and National Integration (Ministry of National Unity) and Non-Government Organisation (NGOs) [1], parents’ interest towards drug prevention program and reasons for involvement [[2], [3]]. Each question regarding parent involvement is rated on a nominal scale in such a way that scores are given for ‘Yes’ for parents who involved in drug prevention programs and ‘No’ for parents who never involved in any drug prevention programs. Further questions regarding the reasons for parents involved in drug prevention programs are rated by seeking new information, increasing knowledge, and availability while reasons for parents who never got involved in drug prevention programs are rated by commitment and health condition (Table 1).Table 1. Socioeconomic demographic characteristics of the participants (n = 200).Table 1. VariableFreq (n)%GenderMale16884.0Female3216.0Age<402412.041–5914170.5> 603517.5RaceMalay200100.0Marital statusMarried16984.5Single father10.5Single Mother3015.0AreaUrban4020.0Rural16080.0Number of children1–3 person6633.04–6 person10150.57–10 person3115.5Above 11 persons21.0Number of children in primary schoolNone11256.01–3 person8844.0Number of children in secondary school.1–3 person19999.54–6 person10.5Number of working children.None10251.01–3 person6733.54–6 person2412.07–10 person73.5Number of children with disabilities.None19698.01–3 person42.0Number of household members1–3 person2211.04–6 person12462.07–10 person5326.5> 11 persons10.5Level of educationNo formal education21.0Primary school157.5Secondary lower (SRP/PMR)3718.5Secondary upper (SPM)12060.0Certificate/STPM/Diploma147.0Bachelor/Master and above126.0Types of respondent's careerSkilled2412.0Semi-skilled10452.0Low-skilled7236.0Head of household's income (monthly)>RM10009145.5RM1001-RM20006733.5RM2001-RM30002110.5RM3001-RM400052.5>RM4001168.0

Experimental Design, Materials and Methods

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This research adopted a cross-sectional survey method to determine the socioeconomic demographics of drug-free parents living in a high-risk drug environment and their participation in drug prevention programs.

The study locations were chosen based on specific high-risk areas with high crime rates, social problems, and a high number of drug addicts, as identified by the authorized drug agency. In addition, since the study sample was selected using purposive sampling, the researcher directly consulted with local authorities to ensure they met the study's requirement, namely, that none of family members were currently involved or had a history of involvement with drug addiction. The data set contains 200 responses from the head of the household that were collected via face-to-face interviews from 3rd to 8th April 2021. Purposive technique was used to select the respondents. The inclusion criteria were; (i) drug free family lives in high-risk drug environment (high crime rates, social problems, and a high number of drug addicts) (ii) family with teenagers aged between 13 and 17 (iii) none of the family members involved in any drug activities. A total of 210 responses were received, but 10 responses were eliminated due to not met the criteria. Finally, 200 responses were used for further analysis. The data on drug prevention and intervention programs conducted by agencies was collected from the National Anti-Drug Agency website. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis via frequencies and percentages (Tables 2 and 3).Table 2. Respondent's involvement in drug prevention programs in Malaysia.Table 2. ProgramActivityYesNoFreq (n)   %Freq (n)   %Focused Drug Prevention Program (National Anti Drug Agency)Drug-Free Family (Family on Alert)63.019497.0Drug-Free Workplace73.519396.5Drug-Free Community52.519597.5Drug-Free Educational Institutions31.519798.5Anti Drugs Squad63.019497.0Public Awareness and Anti-Drug program42.019698.0Prevention and Intervention Education Program (Ministry of Education Malaysia)Waja Diri––200100.0National Child Intervention Program - Program Intervensi Anak Negara (INTAN)––200100.0Improve Knowledge Determine Active Program - Program Ilmu Maju Aktif Nekad (IMAN)––200100.0Youth Prevention Program (Ministry of Youth & Sport Malaysia)The More You Use, The Less You Live Program (campaign, concert, outreach, seminar and follow-up session)–200100.0Parenting Seminar (Lembaga Penduduk dan Pembangunan Keluarga Negara)Prevention education and parenting skills program73.519396.5Prevention and Intervention Education Program (Department of Information)1Malaysia Community Info––200100.0Sepakat––200100.0Prevention Education Program with the Department of National Unity and IntegrationSayangi Komuniti––200100.0Volantary Patrol Scheme + omnipresence (AADK)10.519999.5Training & Development of Officers––200100.0Training for unity kindergarten teachers––200100.0Prevention Education Program with NGOsYouth, Adolescent, Workplace, Community Prevention Education––200100.0Table 3Interest in drug prevention program.Table 3. ReasonYes (n)%No (n)%New info on drug3417––Increase knowledge on drug prevention6532.5––Availability52.5––Commitment––7336.5No reasons––73.5Health condition-–168

Limitations

The data from respondents contains more males than females due to the focus of this study on the head of the family.

Ethics Statement

The research was approved by the ethics and research review committee at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia (UMT/JKEPM/2022/106). The informed consent was obtained during conducting the data collection.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Abdul Rahman Abdul Latip: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Siti Salina Abdullah: Writing – original draft, Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. Nor Hayati Sa'at: Methodology, Software, Formal analysis. Nurul Nabila Syaqira Hanizam: Formal analysis, Software. Khuzaimah Mustapa: Formal analysis, Software. Nur Ameera Rushdi: Resources. Engku Nurnajihah Che Ku Muda: Resources. Suzaily Wahab: Writing – review & editing.