Developing and Validation of Life Skills Inventory for Substance Abusers

The aims of the present study was to design an appropriate tool for evaluatin life skills in substance abusers. In this validation study, universe constitutes of all the substance abuser men of Iran. Participants (n=350) were chosen through stratified sampling from all cities of Iran which had a Therapeutic Community, including Tehran, Hamedan, Qom, Mashad, Boroujerd, Khomein, Esfahan, Yazd, Kerman, Shiraz, Ahvaz, Abadan, Hormozgan, and Bojnourd. To analyse the research data, Pearson correlation coefficient, Bartletts sphericity test, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test, scree plot, principle component analysis with Varimax rotation, and Cronbach’s alpha have been used. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the Life Skills Inventory (0.92) and its subscales, problem solving (0.93), emotion management (0.90), communication (0.89), assertiveness (0.87), self-awareness (0.90), and self-care (0.91) indicate its reliability. Six factors were found that explain 48.67 percent of the total variance. Life Skills Inventory can be applied to substance abuser men in order to clinical and educational appraisals.