The application of theory of planned behavior in improving substance abuse prevention behaviors in male high school students

Drug use is one of the main issues related to students' health, which can be prevented through education in schools. The aim of this study was to apply the theory of planned behavior in improving substance abuse prevention behaviors in high school male students done. This study was done in two stages: Phase I of this study, the descriptive-analytic and cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 to examine the determinants and predictors of drug abuse based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) on 220 Male High School Students in Fasa city, Fars province, Iran. In the second stage, according to the results of the cross-sectional study, interventional study was conducted on 100 Male High School Students (50 in the experimental group and 50 in the control group) in 2019. The educational interference was done for the experimental group for 8 sessions (60-55 min each) at weekly intervals based TPB. Data was collected using a questionnaire containing demographic information and the theory of planned behavior constructs in before and three months after intervention. The constructs of TPB predicted 31.4% of behavioral intention. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, substance abuse prevention intention and behavior in before the educational intervention. However, three months after the intervention, the experimental group showed a significant increase in each of the mentioned constructs.