Effectiveness of communication skills in decreasing addiction tendencies among male students from cities within Tehran province

This research investigates the effectiveness of teaching communication skills in decreasing the tendency to addiction in guidance school male students. Communication skills are considered to be a component of life skills. This research entails a pre-test /post-test with control group design that includes all guidance school male students studying in the cities of Tehran Province. A total of 30 male students were selected according to the random sample cluster method. Half of the population was classified as the test group and the remainder comprised the control group. This research used the addiction potential scale (APS) that has a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of approximately 0.72. The test group had eight, 90 minute weekly educational interventions. There was a meaningful difference in the numbers of addiction tendencies between the test and control groups. The results of this research support the results of previous studies on the effect of a program that includes teaching communication skills for decreasing the tendency of students to use drugs. Considering the educational intervention effects of teaching communication skills on the decrease of addiction tendency, the results are applicable for health and education experts.