اثربخشی برنامه‌ی آموزش مهارت‌های زندگی به منظور پیشگیری از مصرف مواد مخدر در دانش‌آموزان دوره‌ی راهنمایی

Background and Objective: The life skills approach is of great importance and has a strong theoretical and research background in prevention of drug consumption. Based on this approach, a “Life skills Training” package has been developed by Dr Botvin. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of this package on the school children. Materials and Methods: A total of 1862 secondary school students (male and female) were randomly selected from Tehran province. They were divided into two groups, including experimental and control groups. The experimental group was participated in life skills training course but the control group did not. The two groups were consequently compared with regard to their awareness, attitude and life skills about drugs, using “Healthy Behavior Questionnaire”. The T-test was used for the statistical analysis. Results: The post-test mean scores with concern to increasing the information and changing the attitudes and skills about drugs in the experimental group were significantly different from those of the pre-test mean scores. Conclusion: The results indicated that the “life skills training” package, as a psychological intervention tool, can play an important protective role in increasing information and improving attitude and skills in students in favor of drug using avoidance. It is expected to decrease drug use in further years due to the long term effects of the training programs. However, it is recommended to design a longitudinal study in order to evaluate the long term impacts of such interventional training programs on drug using behaviors. Key words: Life skills, Secondary schools, Botvin, Drug use prevention