Mediating Role of Cognitive Flexibility in Predicting the relationship between Childhood Traumatic experiences and Substance Abuse Tendency among Adolescent Females

Drug abuse is a major issue and one of the main causes of health, psychological, and social problems. The study aimed to investigate the mediating role of cognitive flexibility in predicting the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and the tendency to abuse addictive substances among Adolescent females in 2022-23 in Yazd, Iran.

The research method was correlational. The statistical population of the study included all the female students in the junior high schools of Yazd, Iran in the academic year 2022-23. A sample of 200 adolescent females (aged 13–15) was recruited through multi-stage sampling. Participants had at least one self-harming behavior in their clinical records. Cognitive Flexibility Inventory-Iranian Version, Adverse experiences in childhood relationships, and The Readiness Scale for Substance Abuse were completed. To analyze the data paths and standard coefficients used by SPSS-23 software.

The obtained results indicated a significant relationship between all correlation coefficients obtained between a tendency to abuse addictive substances, traumatic experiences in childhood, and cognitive flexibility at the P<0.01 level. Additionally, the indirect effect of cognitive flexibility on the tendency to abuse drugs was significant and the proposed model was confirmed.

The results of this study revealed that cognitive flexibility was associated with childhood traumatic experiences and the tendency to abuse addictive substances. In addition, cognitive flexibility mediates the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and the tendency to abuse addictive substances among adolescent females.