Investigating the causes of tendency to use substances (addiction) in Ardabil

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the individual, demographic, psychological, social, cultural, economic, and geographical factors affecting the tendency to use substances in individuals with substance dependence in Ardabil. Method: This research was a descriptive cross-sectional design. The statistical population of this study included all male and female substance abusers referred to public or private addiction treatment centers in Ardabil province in the first half of 2018. For this purpose, 250 people were selected by convinence sampling method. Researcher-made questionnaires were used to collect data. The descriptive statistics method was also used to achieve the research objectives. Results: Findings showed that individual factors (level of primary education of substance-dependent individuals and their friends, unemployment and having labor jobs, suggestion of substance use by colleagues in the workplace, starting to use by opium), family factors (rejection of the individual in family disputes, substance use to escape family problems, substance use after love failure, history of addiction among family members and improper family functioning), psychological factors (substance use for pleasure and enjoyment, substance use for curiosity, tendency to highly aggressive behaviors, inability and weakness in assertiveness and high stress in lifestyle), cultural factors (lack of membership and activity in religious groups, less adherence to religious lifestyle, ignorance of the effects and side effects of substances, socializing with bad friends, breaking the ugliness of substance use in society, advertising and negative function of the media and high use of satellite), social factors (lack of membership and activity in social groups and feeling of social deprivation), economic factors (unemployment and poor economic status, feeling of economic deprivation and poverty) and geographical factors (marginalization and high incidence of crime and addiction in the individualchr('39')s residence) contributed to the tendency to addiction in individuals with substance dependence. Conclusion: According to the above results, it is necessary for officials and specialists to pay more attention to these local causes and more planning in the field of prevention.