The Relationship of Media Uses to the Inclination to Substance (Case Study: the Youth of Ardabil)

Due to its widespread nature among social life institutions and its effectiveness on the process of reducing substance supply and demand, the media have a prominent role in preventing addiction. Indeed, media are appropriate tools for training, spreading knowledge, and engaging in public participation in preventing addiction. The present study aimed to determine the association of media use with tendency to substance use among the youth of the city of Ardabil. The research method was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population of this research included all young people over 18 years old in the city of Ardabil. A sample of 384 people was selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. A researcher-made questionnaire was used for data collection and Pearson correlation coefficient was used for data analysis. The results showed a significant reverse relationship between media use and the inclination to substance use. Also, there is a significant inverse relationship between the use of print and electronic media with tendency to substance use among the youth of the city of Ardabil. In addition, there is a significant positive correlation between the use of foreign media and the tendency to substance use among the youth of this city. The use of various media results in first increasing youth's awareness of addiction and substance use more prevalent, and second causes to fill the youth leisure time with some media such as books, newspapers, television, and the Internet and these factors can consequently reduce the tendency to substance use among young people.