Mediating Role of Coping Strategies in the Relationship between Family Communication Pattern and Addiction Potential

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of coping strategies in the relationship between family communication pattern and addiction potential in the youth. Method: The present study was descriptive-correlational of structural equation modeling type. The statistical population of the present study included members of the Youth Organization of the Iranian Red Crescent Society in 2019. 595 people were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. Research data were collected using the addiction potential questionnaire, the family communication pattern questionnaire and the coping strategies questionnaire. Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation and structural equation modeling. Results: The results showed a good model fit. In this model, conversation orientation (negatively) and conformity orientation (positively) had indirect and significant effects on the addiction potential. Problem-oriented strategies significantly mediated the relations of conversation orientation and conformity orientation to addiction potential. Also, emotion-oriented strategies significantly mediated the relationship between conformity orientation and addiction potential. Conclusion: It seems that family communication pattern, along with other factors such as coping style, plays a key role in addiction potential and substance use and it is necessary to pay attention to these factors in prevention programs.