Drug abuse is considered a serious social problem, especially among youth. Those who successfully survive such behaviors, especially in high-risk locations, must have underlying factors worth learning. This research focuses on youth who can avoid using and abusing drugs in high-risk areas. The main objectives are to identify protective factors (PF) that successfully protect youth in high-risk locations and to examine the presence of risk factors (RF) in that particular community. Data were collected through ten focus group discussions (FGD) with youth participants who lived within identified hot spot high-risk areas of drug abuse. Each group contains five participants, which makes up a total of fifty youth participants. The FGDs were audio-recorded, followed by the transcribing process and the thematic data analysis. The finding shows that themes for protective and risk factors are divided into internal and external factors. Internal protective factors are represented mostly by religious knowledge and practice, followed by self-assertiveness. External protective factors are denoted by positive family influences, positive peer influence, and knowledge of drug abuse. On the other hand, internal risk factors epitomize the feeling of curiosity, lack of religious knowledge and practice to release pressure and stress, lack of effective coping skills, and seeking fun. External risk factors embody negative peer influence, lack of parenting skills, negative family influence, and negative neighborhood environment and occupation.

• Ajslev, J. Z. N., Persson, R., & Andersen, L. L. (2015). Associations between wage system and risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders among construction workers. Pain Research and Treatment, 2015, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/513903

• Amat, M. A. C., Ahmad, J., Jailani, O., Jaafar, W. M. W., & Zaremohzzabieh, Z. (2020). Relapse among drug addicts in East Coast Malaysia: A qualitative study of risk factors. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(12), 432-447. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v10-i12/8337

• Arip, M. A., Ghazali, M. S. B. H. M., Rahman, A. M. B. A., Jusoh, A. J. B., Salim, S. S. B. S., & Mustafa, M. B. B. (2015). Kesan program pencegahan dadah berasaskan modul pengubahsuaian corak pemikiran (PCP) ke atas daya tahan dan kelangsangan dalam kalangan belia berisiko [The effect of drug prevention program based on adaptation of thinking pattern on resilience among high risk youth]. Jurnal Antidadah Malaysia, 9(1), 46-55.

• Asiseh, F., Owusu, A., & Quaicoe, O. (2017). An analysis of family dynamics on high school adolescent risky behaviors in Ghana. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 26(5), 425-431. https://doi.org/10.1080/1067828X.2017.1322019

• Aviyah, E., & Farid, M. (2014). Religiusitas, kontrol diri dan kenakalan remaja [Religiosity, self-control and delinquency among adolescence]. Persona: Jurnal Psikologi Indonesia, 3(2), 126-129. https://doi.org/10.30996/persona.v3i02.376

• Bavojdan, M. R., Towhidi, A., & Rahmati, A. (2011). The relationship between mental health and general self-efficacy beliefs, coping strategies and locus of control in male drug abusers. Addiction & health, 3(3-4), 111-118.

• Beardslee, J., Datta, S., Byrd, A., Meier, M., Prins, S., Cerda, M., & Pardini, D. (2018). An examination of parental and peer influence on substance use and criminal offending during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 45(6), 783-798. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854818764767

• Bloor, M. (2016). Addressing social problems through qualitative research. In D. Silverman (Ed.), Qualitative research (pp. 15-30). Sage.

• Buckner, J. D., Zvolensky, M. J., Crosby, R. D., Wonderlich, S. A., Ecker, A. H., & Richter, A. (2015). Antecedents and consequences of cannabis use among racially diverse cannabis users: an analysis from ecological momentary assessment. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 147, 20-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.12.022

• Bunn, T. L., Slavova, S., & Bernard, A. C. (2014). Work-related injuries in a state trauma registry: Relationship between industry and drug screening. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 77(2), 280-285. https://doi.org/10.1097/TA.0000000000000303

• Carver, C. S., & Connor-Smith, J. (2010). Personality and coping. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 679-704. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100352

• Christopher, D., (2020). Relapse risk factor. The Recovery Village. https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/recovery/relapse/risk-factors/

• Chua, Y. P. (2020). Mastering research statistics (2nd ed.). McGraw Hill.

• Clarke, V., & Braun, V. (2015). Thematic analysis. In J. A. Smith (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology (pp. 222-284). Springer.

• Cleveland, M. J., Feinberg, M. E., Bontempo, D. E., & Greenberg, M. T. (2008). The role of risk and protective factors in substance use across adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 43(2), 157-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2008.01.015

• Cleveland, M. J., Feinberg, M. E., & Jones, D. E. (2012). Predicting alcohol use across adolescence: Relative strength of individual, family, peer, and contextual risk and protective factors. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26(4), 703-713. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027583

• Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20(1), 37-46. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316446002000104

• Cohen, J. (1968). Weighted kappa: Nominal scale agreement provision for scaled disagreement or partial credit. Psychological Bulletin, 70(4), 213-220.

• Creswell, J. W. (2015). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (5th ed.). Pearson.

• Dalimunthe, H., Firman, F., & Bentri, A. (2021). Development of group counseling service guidelines for increasing student religiosity in drug abuse prevention. Jurnal Aplikasi IPTEK Indonesia, 5(1), 14-22. https://doi.org/10.24036/4.15387

• Daniilidou, A., & Platsidou, M. (2018). Teachers’ resilience scale: An integrated instrument for assessing protective factors of teachers’ resilience. Hellenic Journal of Psychology, 15(1), 15-39.

• Davila, S. P. E., Champion, J. D., Monsivais, M. G. M., Tovar, M., & Arias, M. L. F. (2017). Mexican adolescents’ self-reports of parental monitoring and sexual communication for prevention of sexual risk behavior. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 35, 83-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2017.03.007

• Dong, Y., Taylor, J. R., Wolf, M. E., & Shaham, Y. (2017). Circuit and synaptic plasticity mechanisms of drug relapse. Journal of Neuroscience, 37(45), 10867-10876. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1821-17.2017

• El Kazdouh, H., El-Ammari, A., Bouftini, S., El Fakir, S., & El Achhab, Y. (2018). Adolescents, parents and teachers’ perceptions of risk and protective factors of substance use in Moroccan adolescents: A qualitative study. Substance Abuse Treat Prevent Policy, 13(31), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13011-018-0169-y

• Ferguson, C. J., & Meehan, D. C. (2011). With friends like these…: Peer delinquency influences across age cohorts on smoking, alcohol, and illegal substance use. European Psychiatry, 26(1), 6-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2010.09.002

• Griffith, A. D., & Jackman, M. (2019). Peers or parents?: An examination of risk and protective factors influencing use of and curiosity about marijuana among adolescents in the Caribbean Island of Barbados. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 28(5), 355-362. https://doi.org/10.1080/1067828X.2020.1763884

• Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., & Miller, J. Y. (1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 64-105.

• Hogan, J. A., Gabrielsen, K. R., Luna, N., & Grothaus, D. (2003). Substance abuse prevention: The intersection of science and practice. Allyn & Bacon.

• Holy Qur’an (Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Text, Trans. & Commentary). (2006). King Fahd Holy Quran Printing Complex.

• Hoover, R. S., & Koerber, A. L. (2011). Using NVivo to answer the challenges of qualitative research in professional communication: Benefits and best practices tutorial. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 4(1), 68-82. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2009.2036896

• Hruska, B., Fallon, W., Spoonster, E., Sledjeski, E. M., & Delahanty, D. L. (2011). Alcohol use disorder history moderates the relationship between avoidance coping and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 25(3), 405-414. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022439

• Hunter, M. (2021). The rise of Xanax in South African schools: Toward a framework for connecting drugs and education. International Journal of Drug Policy, 90, Article 103078. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.103078

• Ismail, R., Ahmad, N. A., Ibrahim, F., & Nen, S. (2017). Pengaruh faktor individu, keluarga dan persekitaran sosial terhadap tingkah laku penyalahgunaan bahan dalam kalangan remaja [The influence of family and social environment towards the behavior of substance abuse among adolescence]. Akademika, 87(1), 7-16. https://doi.org/10.17576/akad-2017-8701-01

• Ismail, R., Ghazalli, M. N., & Ibrahim, N. (2015). Not all developmental assets can predict negative mental health outcomes of disadvantaged youth: A case of suburban Kuala Lumpur. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(5), 452-461. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss. 2015.v6n5s1p452

• Jackson, K., & Bazeley, P. (2019). Qualitative data analysis with NVivo. Sage.

• Krueger, R. A., & Casey, M. A. (2014). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research. Sage Publications.

• Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33(1), 159-174. https://doi.org/10.2307/2529310

• Lardier, D. T., Jr., MacDonnell, M., Barrios, V. R., Garcia-Reid, P., & Reid, R. J. (2018). The moderating effect of neighborhood sense of community on predictors of substance use among Hispanic urban youth. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 17(4), 434-459. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332640.2016.1273810

• Lauri, M. N. (2019). WASP (Write a scientific paper): Collecting qualitative data using focus groups. Early Human Development, 133, 65-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2019.03.015

• Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer.

• Leech, N. L., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J., (2011). Beyond constant comparison qualitative data analysis: Using NVivo. School Psychology Quarterly, 26(1), 70-84. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022711

• Linawati, R. A., & Desiningrum, D. R. (2017). Hubungan antara religiusitas dengan psychological well-being pada siswa SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Semarang [ECorrelation between religiosity and psychological well-being among student in SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Semarang]. Jurnal Empati, 7(3), 105-109.

• Mantsch, J. R., Baker, D. A., Funk, D., Lê, A. D., & Shaham, Y. (2016). Stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking: 20 years of progress. Neuropsychopharmacology, 41(1), 335-356. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2015.142

• Messina, J. (2020). Aggressive? honey, it’s assertive: The forward and honest approach to self-confidence. Barnes & Noble Press.

• Mukhara, D., Banks, M. L., & Neigh, G. N. (2018). Stress as a risk factor for substance use disorders: A mini review of molecular mediators. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 12, Article 309. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00309

• Muller, C. P., & Kornhuber, J. (2017). Biological evidence for paradoxical improvement of psychiatric disorder symptoms by addictive drugs. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, 38(6), 501-502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tips.2017.03.005

• Muthoka, P. M., & Mwenje, M. (2020). Risk factors leading to the prevalence of drugs and substance abuse among secondary school students in Nzaui Sub-County Makueni County, Kenya. African Journal of Emerging Issues, 2(5), 53-61.

• Naseemullah, Hussain, M., Majeed, I., Afzal, M., & Gilani, S. A. (2019). Effectiveness of structured teaching programs regarding knowledge of drug abuse among students. Journal of Education and Practice, 10(1), 83-89. https://doi.org/10.7176/JEP

• National Anti-Drug Agency. (2019). Maklumat Dadah [Drug Report]. Agensi Antidadah Kebangsaan Kementerian dalam Negeri. https://www.sistemguruonline.my/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Buku-Maklumat-Dadah-2019_compressed.pdf

• Newton-Howes, G., & Boden, J. M. (2016). Relation between age of first drinking and mental health and alcohol and drug disorders in adulthood: Evidence from a 35-year cohort study. Addiction, 111(4), 637-644. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.13230

• Ompada, D. C., Gershon, R. R., Sandh, S., Acosta, P., & Palamar, J. J. (2019). Construction trade and extraction workers: A population at high risk for drug use in the United States, 2005–2014. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 205, Article 107640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107640

• Prins, S. J., McKetta, S., Platt, J., Muntaner, C., Keyes, K. M., & Bates, L. M. (2019). Mental illness, drinking, and the social division and structure of labor in the United States: 2003-2015. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 62(2), 131-144. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.22935

• Rau, G., & Shih, Y. S. (2021). Evaluation of Cohen’s kappa and other measures of inter-rater agreement for genre analysis and other nominal data. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 53, Article 101026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2021.101026

• Rineer, J. R., Duhart C. S., Cluff, L. A., & Peiper, N. C. (2018). Comparing medical and recreational cannabis use among employees: Associations with health and work-related outcomes. International Review of Psychiatry, 30(3), 268-276. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2018.1465397

• Sangi, Z., Tamini, & Kahrazei, F. (2016). Role of assertive behavior in ego-resiliency and self-control in addicted women. Research on Addiction, 10(38), 163-182.

• Sharma, D. (2018). Effect of drugs on individual and athlete in sports. International Journal of Yogic, Human Movement and Sports Sciences, 3(1), 493-495.

• Skinner, E. A., Edge, K., Altman, J., & Sherwood, H. (2003). Searching for the structure of coping: A review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping. Psychological Bulletin, 129(2), 216-269. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.2.216

• Smyth, E., & Darmody, M. (2021). Risk and protective factors in adolescent behaviour: The role of family, school, and neighbourhood characteristics in (mis)behaviour among young people. Economic & Social Research Institute. https://doi.org/10.26504/rs119

• Strickland, J. R., Wagan, S., Dale, A. M., & Evanoff, B. A. (2017). Prevalence and perception of risky health behaviors among construction workers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 59(7), 673-678. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000001051

• Tobin, D. L., Holroyd, K. A., Reynolds, R. V., & Wigal, J. K. (1989). The hierarchical factor structure of the coping strategies inventory. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 13(4), 343-361. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01173478

• United Nations. (2020). World Drug Report 2020. https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/

• United States Department of Health and Human Services Oral Health Coordinating Committee. (2016). US Department of Health and Human Services oral health strategic framework, 2014-2017. Public Health Reports, 131(2), 242-257. https://doi.org/10.1177/003335491613100208

• Vojoodi, B., Atarod, N., & Poursharifi, H. (2014). On the comparison of interpersonal sensitivity and assertiveness between drug-dependent persons and ordinary people. Quarterly Journal of Research on Addiction, 8(31), 109-118.

• Wagnild, G. M. (2016). The Resilience Scale user’s guide. Resilience Center.

• Walsh, M. (2003). Teaching qualitative analysis using QSR NVivo. Qualitative Report, 8(2), 251-256. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2003.1890

• Wazir, R. (2018). Hadis dan tasawuf: Satu sorotan terhadap Sharḥ Al-Taftāzānī ‘Alā Aḥādīth Al-Arba ‘Īn Al-Nawawiyyah [Hadith and tasawwuf: Literature review on Sharh Al-Taftāzānī ‘Alā Aḥādīth Al-Arba ‘Īn Al-Nawawiyyah]. HADIS, 8(15), 18-36.

• Welsh, E., (2002). Dealing with data: Using NVivo in the qualitative data analysis process. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 3(2), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-3.2.865

• White, H. R., Fite, P., Pardini, D., Mun, E. Y., & Loeber, R. (2013). Moderators of the dynamic link between alcohol use and aggressive behavior among adolescent males. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 41(2), 211-222. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-012-9673-0

• Williams, L. R., Ayers, S., Baldwin, A., & Marsiglia, F. F. (2016). Delaying youth substance-use initiation: A cluster randomized controlled trial of complementary youth and parenting interventions. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 7(1), 177-200. https://doi.org/10.1086/685298

• Wolf, N. H., & Silver, C. (2017). Qualitative analysis using NVivo: The five-level QDAR method. Routledge.

• Yusoff, M. S. A., Mat, A. C., Saad, M. L. I. H. M., Ismail, M. K. A., & Seman, Z. (2018). Khusyuk dalam melaksanakan ibadah solat: Peranannya dalam mencegah perkara keji dan mungkar [Fully concentrated in performing prayer: It’s role in preventing bad deeds]. e-Academia Journal, 7(1), 108-119.

• Zakaria, E., Ibrahim, F., & Hassan, N. (2020). Hubungan antara penerimaan, kesediaan, logistik dan insentif dengan penglibatan program pendidikan pencegahan dadah dalam kalangan keluarga B40 [Correlation between acceptance, readiness, logistic and incentive in involving with drug prevention program among B40 families]. Jurnal Psikologi Malaysia, 34(2), 184-194.