Prediction of Recovery or Relapse from Substance Abuse, Based on the Emotional Intelligence and Religious Coping

The aim of this research was to investigate the predictive role of emotional intelligence and religious coping in relapse or recovery from substance abuse. 62 male subjects who had presented to two addiction detoxification centers in the city of Nafajabad, Iran, and who were selected using convenience sampling, were divided into an abstinent (31 individuals with a history of at least one year abstinence) and relapsed (31 individuals with an abstinence history less than one year) groups. Data were gathered using Religious Coping Scale and Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire and were analyzed using discriminate analysis test and independent t-test. The relapsed and non-relapsed individuals were significantly different in Internal/Private Religious Coping (p<0.001), External/Social Religious Coping (p<0.05), and Emotional Intelligence (0.001). Also, discriminate analysis test showed that 79% of relapsed and non-relapsed individuals can be distinguished based on internal/private coping and emotional intelligence. Internal private religious coping is the most important factor in distinguishing and categorizing the individuals presenting to addiction abstinence centers into abstinent and relapsed groups.