Journal of Preventive Medicine

Introduction
Today, drug addiction has become an alarming situation and a global problem, and there is a need for its control. People who consider the benefits of substance abuse more than its negative consequences and have a positive attitude toward drug use (in all cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects) are at a higher risk for substance abuse. One of the factors related to drug use prevention and attitude towards drug addiction is Personal empowerment, which helps a person to achieve a balance between beliefs and values and behaviors that gives him confidence in his abilities and performance. People who have low personal empowerment are more prone to substance abuse [8, 9]. Another related factor is family cohesion which refers to emotional bonding among family members to engage together against problems [10]. The weak relationship between the family members, the low and weak flexibility and adaptation of the family cause the tendency of people to drug addiction. This study aims to assess the relationship between attitude towards drug addiction and personal empowerment, with the mediating role of family cohesion.

Methods
This is a correlational study using structural equation modeling. The study population consists of all undergraduate students of the University of Mohaghegh Ardabili in the academic year 2022-2023. Using a convenience sampling method, 200 students were selected as samples. The data collection tools included Felner et al.’s social competence questionnaire (47 items on a 7-point Likert scale from 1=completely disagree to 7=completely agree), Karimi’s attitude towards drugs questionnaire (35 items; 16 for measuring positive attitude and 19 for measuring negative attitude), and Olson’s family adaptability and cohesion evaluation scale (20 items on a 5-point Likert scale from 1=almost never to 5=almost always) [16-18]. After collecting the data, it was analyzed in SPSS software, version 23 and LISREL software, version 8.8.

Results
The mean scores for the positive and negative attitudes towards drug addiction were 31.62±8.07 and 42.85±11.04, respectively. The total score for the personal empowerment and the scores of its dimensions including behavioral skills, motivational cues and expectations, cognitive skills, and emotional competence were 144.50±41.17, 103.85±29.16, 21.76±6.78, 9.44±3.32, 9.46±3.21. The mean score of family cohesion was 27.63±6.37. The skewness and kurtosis values of the study variables were in the range between 2 and -2, indicating that the study variables had a normal distribution. The effect of personal empowerment on positive attitude towards drug addiction (t=-4.50, P<0.001) and the effect of family cohesion on positive attitude towards drug addiction (t=-3.47, P<0.001) were negative and significant. The effect of personal empowerment on negative attitudes towards drug addiction (t=5.38, P<0.001) and family cohesion (t=5.82, P<0.001) was positive and significant. The effect of family cohesion on negative attitudes towards drug addiction was also positive and significant (t=4.20, P<0.001). According to the obtained results of fit indicators, the study model had a good fit to the data (CFI=0.92, NFI=0.92, GFI=0.87, X2/df=1.38, and RMSEA=0.042). According to the VAF value, 38.6% of the effect of personal empowerment on positive attitude towards drug addiction and 33.9% of its effect on negative attitude towards drug addiction can be explained by family cohesion.

Conclusion
Personal empowerment may have a direct effect on substance abuse, but family cohesion plays an important role as a mediator in this relationship. The adaptability and cohesion between family members and the support of the family can protect college students from substance abuse. It is recommended that university officials, by identifying the students at risk using psychological tests and assessing their personal empowerment and family conditions, prevent them from getting addicted to drugs.

Ethical Considerations

Compliance with ethical guidelines
This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University  of Mohaghegh Ardabili (Code: IR.UMA.REC.1401.070).

Funding
This article was extracted from a research project funded by the University of Mohaghegh Ardabili. 

Authors' contributions
Study design: Arefe Mohamadnezhad Devin; Data collection: Sajjad Ghobadzade; Statistic analysis: Ali Beheshti Motlagh;  Writing: Arefe Mohamadnezhad Devin  and Seyfolah Aghajani.

Conflicts of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Vice-Chancellor for Research of the University of Mohaghegh Ardabili and all students who participated in this study for their support and cooperation.


 

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