Relationship of Tendency towards Substance Abuse with Spiritual and Psychological Well-being in Students of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences

Recognition of the factors associated with drug abuse in students can have a significant impact on the prevention of their tendency towards substance abuse. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the relationship of the tendency towards substance abuse with spiritual and psychological well-being in students of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences.

This descriptive-correlational study was performed on undergraduate and doctoral students (n=1759) of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences in the academic year of 2016-17. The sample size was calculated using the Cochran formula and was estimated at 315 subjects who were selected through the random sampling method. The data were collected using a substance abuse questionnaire which was based on Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory-2, psychological well-being questionnaire by Reef, and spiritual well-being questionnaire by Paloutzian and Ellison. Out of 315 distributed questionnaires, 295 questionnaires were completely filled and returned. The data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression tests.

According to the findings, there was a significant relationship between the variable of total spiritual well-being and the tendency towards substance abuse and the components of addiction potential and acknowledgment (P<0.05). Moreover, it was confirmed that there was a relationship between personal growth and addiction acknowledgment (P<0.05). Furthermore, the component of self-acceptance had a correlation with the tendency towards substance abuse and addiction acknowledgment (P<0.05). Besides, spiritual well-being, religious well-being, and the component of self-acceptance can predict and explain the variable of the tendency towards substance abuse to 26%, 19.9%, and 18%, respectively. In addition, the two components of personal growth and self-acceptance were able to explain the addiction acknowledgment to 19.6% and 18.4%.

Finally, it can be concluded that self-acceptance and spiritual well-being are predictors of the tendency towards substance abuse in students.