Extracurricular Engagement, Knowledge and Peer Norms: A Moderated Mediation Model of Drug-Risk Awareness

The growing misuse of drugs among university students poses a major public health concern, particularly when prevention strategies overlook psychosocial and educational determinants of awareness. This study examines how extracurricular engagement (EE) enhances students’ drug-risk awareness (DRA) through the mediating role of drug-risk knowledge (DRK) and under varying levels of perceived peer norms (PPN). Grounded in the Health Belief Model, Social Norms Theoryand the Knowledge-Attitude-Behaviour framework, extracurricular activities are conceptualised as social-learning environments that foster cognitive understanding and preventive awareness of drug harms. Using a quantitative, cross-sectional design, data were collected from 401 students across Saudi public universities through stratified random sampling. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling was used to test direct, mediating and moderated-mediation effects. Results indicate that DRK significantly mediates the relationship between EE and DRA, whereas PPN exert no significant moderating influence. Awareness accounts for 54.5% of the variance, while knowledge accounts for 27.6%. The study provides new empirical evidence on how educational and extracurricular interventions enhance awareness and build resilience among university students in the Arab context, highlighting the need for integrated prevention strategies that combine knowledge-based and participatory learning approaches. KEYWORDS Activity involvement, co-curriculars, drug dangers, drug literacy, peer pressure, social norms