The Relationship of Social Skills and Self-efficacy with Tendency to Substance Use in Adolescents

Background and There is a tendency in adolescents with poor social skills and low self-efficacy for substance use to tackle problems. The purpose of the present research was to determine the relationship of social skills and self-efficacy with the tendency for substance use in adolescents. This descriptive correlational study involved the population of first- and second-grade high school students in the vulnerable regions in Ardabil, Iran. The research sample consisted of 321 students from the vulnerable areas in Ardabil, Iran who were randomly selected for the study. Matson Social Skills Scale, Sherer’s Self-efficacy Inventory, Scale of aAttitude towards Substance Use and Tendency to Substance Use Checklist were used for data collection. The obtained data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analyses in SPSS 14, with the significance level of 0. 05. The results showed the mean scores of social skills to be 132. 15, Self-efficacy 81. 85 and tendency to substance use 21. 30. There were significant relationships between social skills (r=-0. 57) and self- efficacy (r=-0. 42) with tendency to substance use in adolescents. The results of multiple regression analysis indicated that aggression, nonsocial skills, general self-efficacy and appropriate social skills accounted for 47 percent of variance of tendency to substance use. Based on the findings, social skills and self-efficacy are related to tendency to substance use in adolescents