Family Factors Affecting Youth Attitudes toward Substance Use: A Qualitative Study

The aim of the current study was to investigate the family factors that influence young people's attitudes toward substance use.

The present research method was qualitative and based on a phenomenological approach. The statistical population comprised young substance users in the city of Niriz. 15 of them were selected based on purposive sampling and using data saturation technique. Data collection was done through an in-depth semi-structured interview and data analysis was done using the thematic analysis method.

From the overall data, 9 primary concepts, 4 major categories including inappropriate parent-child interactions, inadequate supervision, parents' marital conflicts, and perceptions leading to substances, and finally a core category of dysfunctional family patterns were extracted.

The results of this study suggest that the parent-child relationship and parental supervision are among the most important factors determining young people's positive attitudes toward substances. Therefore, the family can be considered the most important factor in preventing and developing children's tendency to use substances.