RESEARCH ON ADDICTION
Year:2017 | Volume:11 | Issue:43 |Papers Count:19

Objective: The current research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy in marital conflict and marital adjustment among addicts.Method: The population of this study consisted of 100 addicts in Drug Treatment Methadone Therapy Center (Nikoosalamat) in Ghorveh city in 2013. This study employed a quasi-experimental research design with pre-test and post-test. A sample size of 30 married addicts was selected via convenience sampling method. Then, they were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The experimental group received 13 behavioral-cognitive psychotherapy sessions according to Michael Frey' s instructions (2005), while the control group received no intervention. For data collection, Spanier's 32-item Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) and Marital Conflict Questionnaire (MCQ) were administered.Results: The results showed that the mean score of marital adjustment post-test in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. In addition, the mean score of marital conflict post-test in the experimental group was found to be significantly lower than that of the control group.Conclusion: Cognitive behavioral therapy appears to be effective in promoting marital adjustment and reducing marital conflict among addicts.

Objectives: Risk behaviors are the potentially harmful behaviors that can have adverse and irremediable consequences for individuals. This study also aims to construct and validate a high-risk behaviors scale.Method: A survey research method was used for the conduct of this study. The 15-34-year-old youths of Tabriz constituted the statistical population of this study. The results of this study indicated that the construct validity of risk behaviors has been confirmed in 98 items and 12 factors, including violence and aggression, dangerous driving, arbitrary use of drugs, suicide, online diversions, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, addiction to virtual networks, cigarette & tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking & drug use, unsafe sex, and gambling. The average variance extracted for all the dimensions was higher than 0.4, which demonstrates the appropriate internal validity of the measurement model. In addition, the reliability values of all the dimensions were obtained higher than 0.6, which is acceptable.Conclusion: The positive values of the shared index of all dimensions represents the quality and overall fit of the reflective measurement model of risky behaviors.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in craving, dependency, and cognitive emotion regulation among drug-dependent women.Method: A quasi-experimental research design along with pre-/post-test and a control group was employed for the conduct of this study. The research population consisted of all drug-dependent women admitted to addiction treatment centers in the city of Tabriz in the first half of 2015. The number of 30 participants (15 patients in the experimental group and 15 patients in the control group) was selected via convenience sampling method. Brief Substance Craving Scale, Dependency Severity Index, and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire were used for data collection. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was administered in 10 sessions.Results: The results showed that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy led to the significant reduction of drug use craving and drug dependence severity and significantly increased the use of positive cognitive emotion regulation strategies in drug-dependent women.Conclusion: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is effective in craving, dependency, and cognitive emotion regulation among drug-dependent women.

Objective: The present aimed at comparing risky behaviors, process emotion regulation strategies, and prospective & retrospective memory between students with and without addiction tendency.Method: A causal-comparative research method was used for the conduct of this study. The statistical population of this study consisted of all high school male students of Tabriz in the academic year 2016-17. The study sample consisted of 60 students with addiction tendency and 60 students without addiction tendency who were selected among the whole group of students. For data collection purposes, high-risk behavior scale, Emotion Regulation Strategies Questionnaire, Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire, and Addiction Acknowledgment Scale were used.Results: The results of this study showed that there is a significant difference between the two groups in terms of retrospective memory, situation selection, sitiuation modification, attention deployment, behavioral modification, experiential modification, violence, smoking, and alcohol consumption. In fact, students with a tendency to addiction were revealed to have a higher degree of retrospective memory and risk behaviors and a lower degree of emotion regulation strategies.Conclusion: It can be argued that risky behaviors, emotion regulation strategies, and retrospective memory affect the severity of addiction in students.

Objective: Despite all the efforts made to stop addiction, the high rate of drug use relapse is alarming. The current research aims to investigate the effect of motivational interviewing on reducing craving and relapse in patients under methadone treatment.Method: A quasi-experimental research design along with pre-test and post-test was employed for the conduct of this study. From among the number of 60 patients in the methadone treatment center, the number of 30 patients was recognized eligible as the participants of this study. Then, the participants were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Both groups completed Craving and Relapse Questionnaires (a six-month follow-up) before and after the intervention.Results: The results showed that the research hypotheses on the effectiveness of motivational interviewing in the reduction of craving and relapse were conformed and there was a significant difference between the experimental group, receiving motivational interviewing and pharmacotherapy, and the control group, only receiving pharmacotherapy.Conclusion: These findings help experts use psychological therapies along with pharmacotherapy in the field of addiction.

Objective: The study of subcultures is one of the most important approaches for the identification and investigation of social injuries. The contribution of ethnography to research on narcotics is to focus on social relationships with the centrality of drug use. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the ethnic subcultures (Arab people of Ahvaz) and the folk norms and recommendations that encourage the use of narcotic drugs.Method: This was an ethnographic and a qualitative research. Purposive sampling was used and theoretical saturation was used to achieve the sample adequacy. The domain of this research was the subculture of the Arab nation. Three-step coding was used to analyze the research data. The first step was open coding where important concepts were extracted. In the axial coding step, axial codes were drawn out of the conceptualization of important issues.Results: Causes of the tendency towards beliefs, customs, and traditions were revealed to be parents' false education regarding the relatively high size of Arabs' families, misleading cultural propaganda, lack of knowledge, lack of welfare facilities, unemployment, low quality of life, and adherence to ethnic customs in the domain of drug use. In terms of conventional beliefs about narcotic drugs, the findings suggest that the shared understanding and values can act as clear rules for drug users. Knowledge about drug use is transmitted through an interconnected social network, which represents a subculture of narcotic drugs.Conclusion: It can be argued that the beliefs and norms encouraging drug use have been commonly used in traditional medicine for the treatment or reduction of pain associated with diseases of the old world.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of positive youth development and life satisfaction with attitude toward substance use in high school students of Qom city.Method: This study was a descriptive research, which falls within the category of correlational studies. The senior high school students of Qom city constituted the statistical population of this study, among whom the number of 385 students (198 girls and 187 boys) was selected through multistage cluster sampling. The participants completed Geldhof et al.'s Positive Youth Development Scale, Diener et al.'s Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Rezaee et al.'s Attitude toward Substance Use Questionnaire.Results: Pearson correlation results indicated that the components of positive youth development has a significant negative relationship with attitude toward substance use. In addition, a significant negative relationship was observed between the components of attitude toward substance use and life satisfaction. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that the components of positive youth development (connection, character, and caring) and life satisfaction respectively make the highest contribution to the prediction of attitude toward substance use.Conclusion: The current research findings emphasized the need for attention to the assets and resources of positive youth development and life satisfaction as the effective factors in reducing addiction and substance use among students.

Objective: The aim of the current study was to predict drug use tendency based on psychological loneliness and cognitive emotion regulation in patients recovering from drug addiction.Method: The current study is a descriptive correlational research. The sample size contained 120 addicts under recovery from drug addiction who were selected as the sample units via convenience sampling method. Farjad drugs use tendency questionnaire (2006), Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona's UCLA Loneliness Scale (1980), and Garnefski' s Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (2001) were used to measure the variables.Results: The results showed that psychological loneliness and obsessive thinking (rumination) have a significant positive relationship with drug use tendency. However, cognitive emotion regulation was revealed to hold a significant negative relationship with drug use tendency while there was no relationship between self-blame and drug use tendency. Psychological loneliness was revealed to be the strongest predictor of drug use tendency.Conclusion: These findings have important implications in the pathology of drug abuse. Thus, clinical technicians can stop the incidence of psychological loneliness by providing appropriate advice and consultation and can embark on the treatment of drug abuse by teaching cognitive regulation strategies.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship of pathological narcissism and self-control with drug abstinence self-efficacy in patients under the treatment of maintenance drugs.Method: The present study falls within the category of descriptive and correlation studies. A total of 356 patients under the treatment of maintenance drugs, such as methadone and buprenorphine were selected by random cluster sampling method from Addiction Treatment Clinics of Semnan city. These participants filled out Pincus et al.'s Pathological Narcissism Inventory, Grasmick, et al.' s self-control scale, and Bramson Drug Abstinence Self-Efficacy Scale.Results: The results showed that there pathological narcissism and self-control have a significant positive relationship with drug abstinence self-efficacy. Moreover, multiple regression analysis showed that pathological narcissism and self-control predicted 20% of drug abstinence self-efficacy variance.Conclusion: It can be concluded that the combination of adjusted narcissism and high self-control can increase the amount of self-efficacy among people who have a history of drug abuse and placement under maintenance drugs. In the following of the treatment of these patients, the conduct of psychological intervention seems to be necessary.

Objective: The aim of this study is to model the structural equation of schemas and attachment styles with addiction potential through the mediation of stress coping strategies, cognitive emotion regulation, and loneliness among the addicts undergoing abstinence.Method: For this purpose, a descriptive-correlational research design was used. The research population included all the addicts under treatment of Golestan Province in 2016. Through Loehlin's sampling method (2004), 300 addicts under recovery were selected as the sample. Addiction Potential Scale, Hazan & Shaver Attachment Styles Questionnaire, Endler and Parker's Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), Garnefski's Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (2001), Russell UCLA Loneliness Scale, and Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ-SF) were used for data collection.Results: Generally, the five variables could explain 74 percent of addiction potential variance.Conclusion: Considering the predictive power of the variables, the findings can be used in interventions and training in addiction treatment clinics.

Objective: Today, a high rate of prison organization costs constitutes the crimes relating to addiction and rehabilitation; furthermore, relapse into addiction destroys all such expenses. In the same line, the present study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment group therapy in reducing depression, stress, and anxiety among ex-addicts in Tabriz central prison.Method: For this purpose, 50 clients were selected through convenience sampling method from among the statistical population of 189 male ex-addicts imprisoned in the central prison of Tabriz and were randomly divided into two groups. The participants responded to DASS questionnaire before and after the administration of Acceptance and Commitment Group Therapy.Results: The results of this study showed that Acceptance and Commitment Group Therapy has had a positive effect on the reduction of stress and anxiety among the clients, but it has not had any significant effect on depression.Conclusion: In addition to Acceptance and Commitment Group Therapy, it is advisable to use other complementary therapies. In this regard, researchers are suggested to consider the long-term effects of this therapy, as well.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the role of mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotional memory in predicting addiction relapse and adherence to treatment in substance abusers.Method: This research is a correlation study. The research population included all the patients referring to substance abuse treatment centers in the first half of 2014. The number of 197 substance abusers in addiction treatment centers of Ardabil was selected through convinience sampling method. General Adherence Scale, Relapse Prediction Scale, Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory, Distress Tolerance Scale, and Emotional Memory Test were used for data collection.Results: The results of Pearson correlation indicated that addiction relapse and adherence to treatment have a significant relationship with mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotional memory. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that 35.8 percent of relapse prediction variance can be explained by mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotional memory in substance abusers. Similarly, the results showed that 33.5 percent of adherence to treatment variance can be explained by mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotional memory in substance abusers.Conclusion: These results show that the mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotional memory are suitable predictors of relapse and adeherence to treatment in substance abuser s.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the casual relationship between family communication patterns and addition potential with the mediating role of neuroticism and openness to experience among male high school students in Ahvaz.Method: In this descriptive-correlational study, all the male high school students in the academic year 2016-17 constituted the research population. From this population, 400 students were selected from Municipal Districts 2 and 3 of Ahvaz through multistage cluster random sampling method. Iranian Addiction Potential Scale, Revised Family Communication Patterns, and NEO Personality Traits Inventory (neuroticism and openness to experience) were used for data collection in this study.Results: The proposed model had an acceptable fitness to the data. Overall, the results showed all the direct paths except the path from communication of conformity to openness to experience were found significant. The indirect paths were also significant except the path from communication of conformity to openness to experience.Conclusion: The evaluated model has a good fit and is an important step in identifying the factors that are effective in addiction potential. Therefore, the model can be useful for the design and development of addiction prevention programs.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the causal relation of self-regulation and moral intelligence with addiction potential through the mediator role of sensation seeking among female students.Method: This study falls within the category of descriptive/ structural equation modeling (correlational) research. The statistical population of this study consisted of all high school female students of Bushehr in the academic year 2016-2017. From among this population, 240 students were selected as the participants via multistage cluster sampling and responded to Addiction Potential Scale, Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, Moral Intelligence Scale, and Sensation Seeking Scale.Results: The results showed that the conceptual model of the research enjoys an acceptable fitness with the data. In this model, all direct, indirect, and general routes were obtained significant towards the prediction of addiction potential. In the same way, sensation seeking plays a mediating role in the relationship of self-regulation and moral intelligence with addiction potential.Conclusion: It can be concluded that it is essential to assign credit to psychological variables, like sensation seeking, self-regulation, and moral intelligence in adolescent drug prevention programs.

Objective: The current research was conducted to examine the effectiveness of stress coping skills training in the mental health of the addicts who referred to addiction treatment centers.Method: This research employed a quasi-experimental research design with pre-test and post-test. The statistical population of this study consisted of all clients in addiction treatment clinics who had registered for methadone treatment in 2014. The number of 30 participants was selected by convenience sampling method and divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in 8 sessions of stress coping skills training and, then, the mental health of both groups was examined by General Health Questionnaire.Results: The results showed that stress coping skills training has been effective in addicts’ mental health.Conclusion: Stress coping skills training can be effective in reducing the harmful effects of addiction on mental health.