The objectives of the study were two-folds: firstly, to ascertain the effect of life satisfaction on substance abuse among Malay youth. Secondly, to identify the role of delinquency on the relationship between life satisfaction and substance abuse. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed among youths at the youth programmes using a two-step sampling technique: area sampling and systematic sampling. The research hypotheses were tested using Structural Equation Modelling. The findings of the study revealed that there is no significance relationship between life satisfaction and substance abuse. There is a significant inverse relationship between life satisfaction and delinquency. Moreover, delinquency has a positive significant influence on substance abuse. The use of Bootstrapping analysis proved that delinquency plays a full mediating role in the relationship between life satisfaction and substance abuse. This study concluded that to reduce substance abuse, efforts should be undertaken to reduce delinquency behaviour by increasing youth life satisfaction.
Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is a powerful multivariate statistical analysis technique which combines both factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. It is capable of analysing the inter-relationships among latent constructs simultaneously in a model. These latent constructs are measured using certain number of items in a questionnaire. Covariance-based SEM (CB-SEM) or full SEM have become the choice for many researchers in a variety of disciplines because of their ability to evaluate complex relationships using parametric statistical approach. Researchers could also opt for Variance-based SEM (VB-SEM) or Partial Least Square-SEM (PLS-SEM) when their data failed the parametric assumptions such as multivariate normality distribution and minimum sample size. However, the approach of VB-SEM or PLS-SEM is a non-parametric instead of a parametric approach in CB-SEM. This article compared the performance of both SEM approaches using the same dataset to validate the Measurement Model for Maqasid Syariah Quality of Life (MSQoL). The findings of both analyses suggested that CB-SEM or full SEM is more appropriate to validate and confirm the MSQoL measurement model.
The incidents of drug-abuse behavior has escalated especially among youths in Malaysia. The objectives of the study were to ascertain the effects of social support on drug abuse through life satisfaction. Delinquency was treated as the mediating factor on the relationship between life satisfaction and drug-abuse behavior. A survey was conducted among youth addicts getting treatment at rehabilitation centers. A total of 275 questionnaires were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling. Findings revealed that social support had a significant influence on life satisfaction. Delinquency had a full mediating effect on the relationship between life satisfaction and drug abuse. An increase in life satisfaction would reduce delinquency and drug-abuse behavior among youth by enhancing social support assistance. Therefore, rehabilitation programs should be focused on matching the drug dependences' needs for social support to increase the chances of remaining sober and achieving success in ending the cycle of relapse.
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