Volume 23, Issue 90 (11-2023)
refahj 2023, 23(90): 89-119 |
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Mohammad Karimi Mazhin A, Qaedamini Harooni G, Seddighi H, Sajadi H. (2023). The Relationship between Social Support and Tendency to Drug Abuse among Earthquake Victims in Kermanshah Province. refahj. 23(90), 89-119. doi:10.32598/refahj.23.90.4177.1
URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-4104-en.html
URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-4104-en.html
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Extended Abstract
Introduction:
In today's world, substance use is one of the major health, psychological, social, and family issues and concern (Compton et al. 2015) and despite all-out efforts to control it, the prevalence is increasing and the age of consumption is decreasing. The report of the World Health Organization indicates that more than 6% of the world's population (about 200 million people) drug abuse (Gros et al., 2016; Hershberger, et al., 2016). The results of the studies indicate that one of the underlying factors in preparing for addiction in different people is the level of social support (Sohrabi et al., 2019; Tayebi et al., 2012). Social support is defined as the support that a person receives from family, friends, organizations, and other people. A person's interactions with his family and the support he receives from the environment and others have positive effects on him and increase his psychological abilities and help him in emotional, cognitive, and physical aspects (Far & Nik, 2013).
On the other hand, natural hazards such as floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, droughts, and storms, based on their depth and extent, as well as the level of resistance and objective and mental preparedness of communities and the implementation of preventive measures, are associated with very different consequences (Nourian, 2014). Various studies have been conducted on the causes of the tendency to use drugs, and their results have been different based on the researched society and geographical region (Ahmadi et al., 2003). Although substance abuse disorder is considered as a global problem, researchers believe that the solutions to solve this problem are different based on the conditions of each region, people at risk and its risk factors (Lancet, 2012). According to studies (Jalilian et al., 2014; Roshani et al., 2014), Kermanshah province is one of the regions where the incidence of drug addiction is high due to various reasons, and on the other hand, in recent years, the occurrence of crises such as earthquakes is a contributing factor, and it can fuel this incident. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the relationship between social support and the tendency to substance use among earthquake victims in Kermanshah province.
Method:
This correlation study was conducted in 2021 on 450 people living in Sarpol-e Zahab who were living in this city during the 2017 earthquake. Sampling was done by cluster random method. In this study, a checklist of demographic characteristics and two valid and reliable questionnaires including Vaux social support (Vaux et al., 1986) and attitudes toward substance use of Alipour (Rafiey & Alipour, 2015) questionnaire were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS Graphics software.
Findings:
Most of the studied subjects were male (58.2%), single (57.1%) and employed (more than 60%). The average total score of social support was 4.09, and it was evaluated at a very good level. The average dimension of social support related to friends and social support related to close family was 3.57 and 3.56, respectively. The score related to the dimension of social support of other sources is more than these two and equals 3.7.
The average tendency to use drugs was 3.15 and was evaluated at an average level. The highest average is related to the dimension of false belief about the high prevalence of drug use (3.91), and the lowest average is related to the dimension of desire for drugs with a score of 1.81. The dimension of desire for drugs was equal to 1.81 and much lower than the average, the dimension of false belief in the positive physical effects of drugs was equal to 2.51, but in the case of the other three dimensions, that is, the dimension of unwillingness to actively participate in prevention, the dimension of not actively dealing with consumption Substances and the dimension of false belief about the high prevalence of substance use were higher than average.
Also, a negative and significant relationship was obtained between social support and tendency to substance use.
Discussion:
Previous studies indicate that drug users generally have less social support than non-users (Hershberger et al., 2016; Lorant et al., 2016; Karimi Moghaddam et al., 2009). So that the results of Hershberger et al.'s (2016) study, which examined the role of social support in the use of smoking by delinquent teenagers, indicate that different methods of social support, such as the support of parents, colleagues and teachers' support can reduce the negative effects of juvenile delinquent behavior, especially smoking (Hershberger et al., 2016). Massah et al.,'s study (2017) in their study entitled students' tendency to use illegal drugs: the perceived role of social support and family functioning among students of Allameh Tabatabai University in Iran with the aim of investigating the relationship between perceived social support and the family's performance in the tendency to abuse illegal drugs was done, the results showed that there is a negative and significant relationship between the perceived social support and the tendency to abuse illegal drugs (Massah et al. 2017), which is in line with the results of this study. Also, studies have shown that most drug users are from families that have low support, cooperation and solidarity in emotional relationships, family members suffer from mental illness, and parents do not care about their children's needs (Litt & Lewis, 2016).
Support received from friends, family and significant others plays an important role in predicting drug abuse. The greater the support of parents, family members, friends and important people in life, the lower the tendency to abuse drugs. In other words, social support acts as a protective shield and people who have low social support are more vulnerable to substance use (Hershberger et al., 2016). The research findings of Sohrabi et al. (Sohrabi et al., 2019) also showed that there is a negative and significant relationship between social support and readiness for addiction, and social support can significantly predict readiness for addiction. This finding is consistent with previous studies (Sohrabi et al., 2019; Karimi et al., 2017).
Ethical considerations:
Authors Contribution: All authors contributed to this article.
Funding: No direct financial support was received from any institution or organization for the preparation of this article.
Conflict of interest: This article does not overlap with other published works of the authors.
Following the ethical principles of research: In this study, all rights related to research ethics have been observed.
References:
Ahmadi, Jamshid, and Mahsa Hasani. 2003. 'Prevalence of substance use among Iranian high school students', Addictive behaviors, 28: 375-79.
Compton, Wilson M, Maureen Boyle, and Eric Wargo. 2015. 'Prescription opioid abuse: problems and responses', Preventive medicine, 80: 5-9.
far, Tamanaei, and Mansouei nik. 2013. 'Predicting life satisfaction based on personality traits, social support and spiritual well-being', Quarterly Journal of New Psychological Research, 8: 67-87.
Gros, Daniel F, Julianne C Flanagan, Kristina J Korte, Adam C Mills, Kathleen T Brady, and Sudie E Back. 2016. 'Relations among social support, PTSD symptoms, and substance use in veterans', Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 30: 764.
Hershberger, Alexandra, Tamika Zapolski, and Matthew C. Aalsma. 2016. 'Social support as a buffer between discrimination and cigarette use in juvenile offenders', Addictive behaviors, 59: 7-11.
Jalilian, F, FZ Motlagh, MR Amoei, N Hatamzadeh, H Gharibnavaz, and M Mirzaei Alavijeh. 2014. 'Which one support (family, friend or other significant) is much more important to drug cessation', A Study among men Kermanshah addicts, the west of Iran. J Addict Res Ther, 5: 2.
Karimi Moghaddam, H, T Hashemi, and M Bayrami. 2009. 'The role of irrational beliefs, self-efficacy perceptions and social support for substance abuse disorder', Tabriz Tabriz University.
Karimi, Zeinab, Zahra Asoodeh Nalkiashari, and Jalal Younesi. 2017. 'The Components of Self-Knowledge and Affiliation with Delinquent Peers at Tendency to Addiction among High School Student Girls', Journal of Arak University of Medical Sciences, 20: 94-104.
Lancet, The. 2012. "Addiction—a global problem with no global solution." In.: Elsevier.
Litt, Dana M., and Melissa A. Lewis. 2016. 'Examining a social reaction model in the prediction of adolescent alcohol use', Addictive behaviors, 60: 160-64.
Lorant, Vincent, Victoria Soto Rojas, Laia Bécares, Jaana M Kinnunen, Mirte AG Kuipers, Irene Moor, Gaetano Roscillo, Joana Alves, Adeline Grard, and Arja Rimpelä. 2016. 'A social network analysis of substance use among immigrant adolescents in six European cities', Social science & medicine, 169: 58-65.
Massah, Omid, Manuchehr Azkhosh, Yousof Azami, Ali Akbar Goodiny, Younes Doostian, and Seyed Hadi Mousavi. 2017. 'Students tendency toward illicit drug use: The role of perceived social support and family function in Iran', Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 11.
Nourian, AM. 2014. 'Natural disasters and risk management', Proceedings of the first scientific-research conference on rescue management. Tehran: Iran Crescent Applied Scientific Educational Institute affiliated with the Red Crescent Society.
Rafiey, Hassan, and Fardin Alipour. 2015. 'Development and validation of a youth attitude to substances use questionnaire', Social Welfare Quarterly, 15: 95-107.
Roshani, Bahman, Amir Jalali, Shahram Bidhendi, Ebrahim Ezzati, and Mohammad Mahboubi. 2014. 'Study the causes of relapse among Iranian drugs users in Kermanshah', Life Science Journal, 11: 66-71.
Sohrabi, Faramarz, Peyman Mamsharifi, Zohreh Rafezi, and Yousef A'azami. 2019. 'Predicting addiction potential based on mental health, social support and neuroticism and agreeableness personality traits', Iranian Journal of Psychiatric Nursing, 6: 57-66.
Tayebi, K, A Abolghasemi, and M Mahmod Alilo. 2012. 'Comparison of social support and deprivation in drug addicts and psychiatrists and normal people', Knowledge and Research in Applied Psychology, 13(2): 56-64.
Vaux, Alan, Jeffrey Phillips, Lori Holly, Brian Thomson, Deirdre Williams, and Doreen Stewart. 1986. 'The social support appraisals (SS-A) scale: Studies of reliability and validity', American Journal of Community Psychology, 14: 195-218.
Introduction:
In today's world, substance use is one of the major health, psychological, social, and family issues and concern (Compton et al. 2015) and despite all-out efforts to control it, the prevalence is increasing and the age of consumption is decreasing. The report of the World Health Organization indicates that more than 6% of the world's population (about 200 million people) drug abuse (Gros et al., 2016; Hershberger, et al., 2016). The results of the studies indicate that one of the underlying factors in preparing for addiction in different people is the level of social support (Sohrabi et al., 2019; Tayebi et al., 2012). Social support is defined as the support that a person receives from family, friends, organizations, and other people. A person's interactions with his family and the support he receives from the environment and others have positive effects on him and increase his psychological abilities and help him in emotional, cognitive, and physical aspects (Far & Nik, 2013).
On the other hand, natural hazards such as floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, droughts, and storms, based on their depth and extent, as well as the level of resistance and objective and mental preparedness of communities and the implementation of preventive measures, are associated with very different consequences (Nourian, 2014). Various studies have been conducted on the causes of the tendency to use drugs, and their results have been different based on the researched society and geographical region (Ahmadi et al., 2003). Although substance abuse disorder is considered as a global problem, researchers believe that the solutions to solve this problem are different based on the conditions of each region, people at risk and its risk factors (Lancet, 2012). According to studies (Jalilian et al., 2014; Roshani et al., 2014), Kermanshah province is one of the regions where the incidence of drug addiction is high due to various reasons, and on the other hand, in recent years, the occurrence of crises such as earthquakes is a contributing factor, and it can fuel this incident. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the relationship between social support and the tendency to substance use among earthquake victims in Kermanshah province.
Method:
This correlation study was conducted in 2021 on 450 people living in Sarpol-e Zahab who were living in this city during the 2017 earthquake. Sampling was done by cluster random method. In this study, a checklist of demographic characteristics and two valid and reliable questionnaires including Vaux social support (Vaux et al., 1986) and attitudes toward substance use of Alipour (Rafiey & Alipour, 2015) questionnaire were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS Graphics software.
Findings:
Most of the studied subjects were male (58.2%), single (57.1%) and employed (more than 60%). The average total score of social support was 4.09, and it was evaluated at a very good level. The average dimension of social support related to friends and social support related to close family was 3.57 and 3.56, respectively. The score related to the dimension of social support of other sources is more than these two and equals 3.7.
The average tendency to use drugs was 3.15 and was evaluated at an average level. The highest average is related to the dimension of false belief about the high prevalence of drug use (3.91), and the lowest average is related to the dimension of desire for drugs with a score of 1.81. The dimension of desire for drugs was equal to 1.81 and much lower than the average, the dimension of false belief in the positive physical effects of drugs was equal to 2.51, but in the case of the other three dimensions, that is, the dimension of unwillingness to actively participate in prevention, the dimension of not actively dealing with consumption Substances and the dimension of false belief about the high prevalence of substance use were higher than average.
Also, a negative and significant relationship was obtained between social support and tendency to substance use.
Discussion:
Previous studies indicate that drug users generally have less social support than non-users (Hershberger et al., 2016; Lorant et al., 2016; Karimi Moghaddam et al., 2009). So that the results of Hershberger et al.'s (2016) study, which examined the role of social support in the use of smoking by delinquent teenagers, indicate that different methods of social support, such as the support of parents, colleagues and teachers' support can reduce the negative effects of juvenile delinquent behavior, especially smoking (Hershberger et al., 2016). Massah et al.,'s study (2017) in their study entitled students' tendency to use illegal drugs: the perceived role of social support and family functioning among students of Allameh Tabatabai University in Iran with the aim of investigating the relationship between perceived social support and the family's performance in the tendency to abuse illegal drugs was done, the results showed that there is a negative and significant relationship between the perceived social support and the tendency to abuse illegal drugs (Massah et al. 2017), which is in line with the results of this study. Also, studies have shown that most drug users are from families that have low support, cooperation and solidarity in emotional relationships, family members suffer from mental illness, and parents do not care about their children's needs (Litt & Lewis, 2016).
Support received from friends, family and significant others plays an important role in predicting drug abuse. The greater the support of parents, family members, friends and important people in life, the lower the tendency to abuse drugs. In other words, social support acts as a protective shield and people who have low social support are more vulnerable to substance use (Hershberger et al., 2016). The research findings of Sohrabi et al. (Sohrabi et al., 2019) also showed that there is a negative and significant relationship between social support and readiness for addiction, and social support can significantly predict readiness for addiction. This finding is consistent with previous studies (Sohrabi et al., 2019; Karimi et al., 2017).
Ethical considerations:
Authors Contribution: All authors contributed to this article.
Funding: No direct financial support was received from any institution or organization for the preparation of this article.
Conflict of interest: This article does not overlap with other published works of the authors.
Following the ethical principles of research: In this study, all rights related to research ethics have been observed.
References:
Ahmadi, Jamshid, and Mahsa Hasani. 2003. 'Prevalence of substance use among Iranian high school students', Addictive behaviors, 28: 375-79.
Compton, Wilson M, Maureen Boyle, and Eric Wargo. 2015. 'Prescription opioid abuse: problems and responses', Preventive medicine, 80: 5-9.
far, Tamanaei, and Mansouei nik. 2013. 'Predicting life satisfaction based on personality traits, social support and spiritual well-being', Quarterly Journal of New Psychological Research, 8: 67-87.
Gros, Daniel F, Julianne C Flanagan, Kristina J Korte, Adam C Mills, Kathleen T Brady, and Sudie E Back. 2016. 'Relations among social support, PTSD symptoms, and substance use in veterans', Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 30: 764.
Hershberger, Alexandra, Tamika Zapolski, and Matthew C. Aalsma. 2016. 'Social support as a buffer between discrimination and cigarette use in juvenile offenders', Addictive behaviors, 59: 7-11.
Jalilian, F, FZ Motlagh, MR Amoei, N Hatamzadeh, H Gharibnavaz, and M Mirzaei Alavijeh. 2014. 'Which one support (family, friend or other significant) is much more important to drug cessation', A Study among men Kermanshah addicts, the west of Iran. J Addict Res Ther, 5: 2.
Karimi Moghaddam, H, T Hashemi, and M Bayrami. 2009. 'The role of irrational beliefs, self-efficacy perceptions and social support for substance abuse disorder', Tabriz Tabriz University.
Karimi, Zeinab, Zahra Asoodeh Nalkiashari, and Jalal Younesi. 2017. 'The Components of Self-Knowledge and Affiliation with Delinquent Peers at Tendency to Addiction among High School Student Girls', Journal of Arak University of Medical Sciences, 20: 94-104.
Lancet, The. 2012. "Addiction—a global problem with no global solution." In.: Elsevier.
Litt, Dana M., and Melissa A. Lewis. 2016. 'Examining a social reaction model in the prediction of adolescent alcohol use', Addictive behaviors, 60: 160-64.
Lorant, Vincent, Victoria Soto Rojas, Laia Bécares, Jaana M Kinnunen, Mirte AG Kuipers, Irene Moor, Gaetano Roscillo, Joana Alves, Adeline Grard, and Arja Rimpelä. 2016. 'A social network analysis of substance use among immigrant adolescents in six European cities', Social science & medicine, 169: 58-65.
Massah, Omid, Manuchehr Azkhosh, Yousof Azami, Ali Akbar Goodiny, Younes Doostian, and Seyed Hadi Mousavi. 2017. 'Students tendency toward illicit drug use: The role of perceived social support and family function in Iran', Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 11.
Nourian, AM. 2014. 'Natural disasters and risk management', Proceedings of the first scientific-research conference on rescue management. Tehran: Iran Crescent Applied Scientific Educational Institute affiliated with the Red Crescent Society.
Rafiey, Hassan, and Fardin Alipour. 2015. 'Development and validation of a youth attitude to substances use questionnaire', Social Welfare Quarterly, 15: 95-107.
Roshani, Bahman, Amir Jalali, Shahram Bidhendi, Ebrahim Ezzati, and Mohammad Mahboubi. 2014. 'Study the causes of relapse among Iranian drugs users in Kermanshah', Life Science Journal, 11: 66-71.
Sohrabi, Faramarz, Peyman Mamsharifi, Zohreh Rafezi, and Yousef A'azami. 2019. 'Predicting addiction potential based on mental health, social support and neuroticism and agreeableness personality traits', Iranian Journal of Psychiatric Nursing, 6: 57-66.
Tayebi, K, A Abolghasemi, and M Mahmod Alilo. 2012. 'Comparison of social support and deprivation in drug addicts and psychiatrists and normal people', Knowledge and Research in Applied Psychology, 13(2): 56-64.
Vaux, Alan, Jeffrey Phillips, Lori Holly, Brian Thomson, Deirdre Williams, and Doreen Stewart. 1986. 'The social support appraisals (SS-A) scale: Studies of reliability and validity', American Journal of Community Psychology, 14: 195-218.
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Received: 2022/07/28 | Accepted: 2023/07/11 | Published: 2023/11/27
Received: 2022/07/28 | Accepted: 2023/07/11 | Published: 2023/11/27
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Social Welfare Quarterly
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