Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Effect of assertiveness program on the drug use tendency, mental health, and quality of life in clinical students of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Forozan Ganji
. Farzad Khani
. Zahra Karimi
. Leili Rabiei

General Health Department, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Shahrekord University of Medical Science, Sharekord, Iran

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Students on campus are exposed to drug abuse and mental health disorders due 
to various challenges and motivating factors. This issue requires attention to interventions based on 
coping skills training. The present study was conducted with the aim to investigate the effect of an 
assertiveness program on the drug use tendency, mental health, and quality of life in clinical students 
of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences in 2020.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a quasi‑experimental study. Seventy clinical students (nursing, 
midwifery, and intern students) attending Ayatollah Kashani and Hajar teaching hospitals of Shahrekord 
were included into the study and randomly assigned into an intervention group and a control group. 
The assertiveness training program was implemented for eight 1‑h sessions (one session per week 
for 2 months) for the intervention group, while the control group received no programs. Both study 
groups completed drug tendency questionnaire, depression, anxiety and stress scale, and quality of 
life questionnaire in pretest, posttest, and 2‑month follow‑up. The data were analyzed using SPSS 
software (v22), analysis of variance repeated measures, and t‑test.
RESULTS: The mean scores of drug use tendency (P = 0.26), stress (P = 0.31), anxiety (P = 0.29), 
depression (P = 0.43), and quality of life (P = 0.33) showed no statistically significant difference
between the intervention and control groups in the pretest, but the scores of the drug use tendency, 
stress, anxiety, and depression were statistically lower and the score of quality of life was statistically 
higher than that of the control group in the posttest and 2‑month follow‑up (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION: The findings of the study showed that assertiveness skill training as a preventive
program can reduce the students’ tendency to addiction and improve their mental health and quality 
of life. Considering the effectiveness of the program, planners and policymakers can use it to plan 
for reducing the youth tendency to drugs.

Keywords

Assertiveness program
clinical students
drug use tendency
mental health
quality of life
training  program
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 12, Issue 2
Winter 2022
Pages 1-7

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