Examining the Effect of an Educational Program for Addiction Prevention on Students’ Tendency and Attitude Toward Substance Use

Subject Areas :

Sayedeh Mansoureh Sepehrian ¹ , Sayed Baktash Sepehrian ²

1 - Master of Education, Educational Research
2 - Master's Degree, Natural Disaster Engineering

Received: 2025-11-09 Accepted : 2025-12-30 Published : 2026-01-03

Keywords: Educational program, addiction, tendency, attitude, substance use,

Abstract :

Addiction to narcotic substances has become one of the fundamental problems of modern human life and can affect every aspect of an individual’s existence. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the effect of an educational program for substance abuse prevention on the tendency and attitude of high school students toward drug use. This research was applied in purpose and quasi-experimental in design, employing a pretest–posttest with a control group. The statistical population consisted of high school students in Izeh County, from which 40 students were selected using cluster random sampling and divided into experimental and control groups (20 participants in each). Data collection instruments included the Karimi et al (2012) Attitude Toward Substance Abuse Questionnaire and the Zarghar et al (1999) Tendency Toward Substance Abuse Questionnaire. The experimental group participated in a 12-session educational program on addiction prevention over approximately three months, while the control group received no intervention. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANCOVA. The univariate covariance analysis results showed that the educational program had a significant effect on reducing the tendency toward substance use, with about 90% of posttest changes in tendency attributed to the program. Moreover, it had a significant positive effect on improving attitudes toward addiction, explaining about 69% of the posttest variance in attitude. These findings highlight the importance of designing skill-based and participatory programs in schools and employing active learning strategies to prevent substance use during adolescence and youth

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