The Development of an Integrated Psychotherapy Model based on Religious-Psychological Teachings with Islamic Approach and Evaluating its Effectiveness on Reducing the Tendency to High-Risk Behaviors in Adolescents

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop an integrated psychotherapy model based on religious-psychological teachings with Islamic approach and evaluate its effectiveness on reducing the tendency to high-risk behaviors (tendency to use alcohol, drug, and cigarette) in adolescents. Method: The present study was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of the present study included all male high school students who were studying in Ardabil in the academic year 2017-2018. First, 200 students were selected by multi-stage random sampling method and then 30 students with high-risk behaviors determined by the Iranian adolescentschr('39') risk scale were selected according to the exclusion and inclusion criteria and were randomly assigned into the experimental group (n = 15) and the control group (n = 15). For the experimental group, the educational program designed based on religious-psychological teachings was held for ten 60-minute sessions and the control group did not receive any intervention. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that education based on religious-psychological teachings reduced significantly the tendency to high-risk behaviors in adolescents. Conclusion: Integrative psychotherapy based on religious-psychological teachings with Islamic approach is an effective and efficient intervention in reducing adolescentschr('39') tendency to high-risk behaviors common in this age group, especially the use of alcohol, drug, and cigarette.