Factors Associated With Substance Use Behaviour Among Emerging Adults in the African Context: A Scoping Review

Emerging adulthood is a critical period marked by significant psychosocial transitions that often coincide with increased experimentation with psychoactive substances. A scoping review was conducted to synthesise existing literature to identify the factors associated with substance use behaviour among emerging adults within the African context. This review focuses specifically on African studies to address the critical underrepresentation of African contexts in literature on factors associated with substance use behaviour among Emerging Adults. This review was guided by the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley and followed the PRISMA framework. 2410 peer reviewed published articles were identified, after screening 14 were included in the synthesis. The findings identified that substance use is rarely the result of a single factor but rather the convergence of individual vulnerabilities and broader social, environmental, and cultural forces.