Investigating the Factors Related to Substance Use in the Iranian High School Students Using the Positive Youth Development Model

Background: Drug abuse is a general health problem that threatens all groups in human societies. While youths are vulnerable to drug interests, the amplification of their powers along with creating all protective factors in their living environment is helpful in confronting this problem. This study has been performed with the aim of determining the factors related to the tendency towards drug abuse based on positive youth development model among high school students of Isfahan. Objective: This study has been performed with the aim of determining the factors related to the tendency towards drug abuse based on positive youth development model among high school students of Isfahan. Methods: This sectional study has been performed with the participation of 252 male and female high school second graders in Isfahan. The sampling method was a multi-stage cluster. The data-gathering tool was a researcher-made questionnaire in three parts whose validity and reliability were confirmed. The gathered data were analyzed by SPSS 18 software, Pearson correlation tests, and Regression analysis. Results: The mean and the standard deviation of the age of the participants were 15.820.66. Among the structures of the model of positive youth development, those of social competence, emotional competence, social norms, and self-efficacy were predicted 30.8% of changing the tendency towards drug abuse, and the structure of the attitude toward drugs could predict 35% of behavior changes (R2 = 0.308, P < 0.001). Conclusions: The findings of this research shed light on the issue that the structures of social competence, emotional competence, prosocial norms, and self-efficacy along with attitude could be effective in decreasing the youths’ tendency to drug abuse, which must be considered in the intervention programs with regard to the importance of the issue in the adolescents’ lives.