Impact of Life Skills Education on Changing Attitudes toward Substance Abuse and Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors in Female Students

Background: Drug dependence among adolescents is one of the major concerns in today's societies, and the increasing positive attitudes of adolescents toward substance abuse and the prevalence of addiction are also alarming. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of life skills education on changing attitudes toward substance abuse and promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors in female secondary high school students during the academic year 2020-2021.Method: The research design employed in this study was experimental, with a control group. The statistical population included all female students in girls' public schools in District One of Tehran during the academic year 2020-2021. A total of 100 students were purposefully selected for this study and equally and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group received life skills education for eight 60-minute sessions (two sessions per week), while the control group received no education. Data were collected using demographic information and two questionnaires: A Substance Abuse Attitude Survey (SAAS) and a Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire (LSQ). Results: The results showed a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of attitudes toward addiction and lifestyle after the study, as indicated by the independent T-test (p-value=0.014, p-value=0.001). The results of the paired T-test for intra-group comparison of mean scores of attitudes toward addiction and lifestyle revealed a statistically significant difference in the intervention groups (p-value < 0.05). Conclusion: Life skills education can be effective in changing attitudes toward substance abuse and promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors in female secondary high school students.

Impact of Life Skills Education on Changing Attitudes toward Substance Abuse and Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors in Female Students Keywords:

Life skills education , Attitude toward addiction , Lifestyle , Student , female