The Relationship between Health Beliefs and Family Functioning with Drug Attitudes among High School Students in Lali city, Khuzestan Province, Iran

Background :

Drug abuse and its unfavorable consequences are considered the most important concerns and social issues of the present era, and drug abuse and its destructive consequences are challenging issues concerning the students’ health. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between health beliefs and family functioning with drug attitudes among high school students of Lali city, Iran.  

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed by path analysis. The study’s population included all the girls and boys of high school students of Lali city, Khuzestan Province, Iran, in the academic year 2017-2018. The sample included 133 male and 142 female students selected by multistage stratified sampling. The research instrument included the Health Beliefs Inventory (Thought Fusion Inventory, TFI), Family Assessment Device (FAD), and the Drug Attitude Scale (DAS). Data analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 23.0), and AMOS software (version 23.0).  

The mean age and age range of participants were 17.06±2.40 and 15 to 20 years, respectively. The results showed a significant negative relationship between health beliefs and attitudes towards drugs in females (β = -0.46, P ≤ 0.01), and male (β = -0.49, P ≤ 0.01) students. There was no significant relationship between family functioning and drug attitudes in students (P > 0.05).   

Conclusion: 

  In this study, it was found that health beliefs reduced attitudes toward drugs in students. Health beliefs change students’, and adolescents’ attitudes toward addiction. For instance, the adolescents, who exhibit more health behaviors, hold a higher perception of the addiction threat and more negative attitudes toward addictive drugs.