Life skills training and prevention of addiction

Abstract

Introduction: As prevention is prior to treatment, planning of educational courses to acquire the first level of prevention of addiction is necessary. This study tried to evaluate the effectiveness of education of life skills on addiction prevention.

Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental research covering 41 subjects (20 adolescents and 21 parents) in Isfahan. Sampling was done by random sampling method. We planned eight educational workshops for the adolescents and their parents in summer 2002. Data collection was done before and after education by three different questionnaires. These questionnaires evaluated the knowledge of parents and adolescents and the probability of tendency to addiction, which were filled out by subjects before and after the educational courses. Data were analyzed with t test by SPSS software.

Results: Findings showed that the mean scores of post-test was higher than the mean scores of pretest in both adolescents and parents. Comparison of pretest and post-test scores showed a significant difference in all three groups (P<0.05). Education of life skills affected the knowledge and the probability of tendency to addiction in both parents and adolescents.

Conclusion: Education of life skills showed an effect on parents and adolescents' knowledge and decreased the tendency to addiction in adolescents group. The role of teachers and professors in schools and universities to conduct consults and education on addiction prevention is important.

Key Words: Life skills, education, addiction prevention