Effects of Storytelling-Based Education in the Prevention of Drug Abuse among Adolescents in Iran Based on a Readiness to Addiction Index.

INTRODUCTION

One of the most effective strategies in the prevention of addiction is increasing awareness among young people, towards the tendency for taking drugs their physical, mental and social side effects. Storytelling is effective for increasing characteristics of happiness and resilience. This study uses storytelling, a common and popular method to increase awareness among adolescents.

AIM

To examine the effect of storytelling-based education on the prevention of drug abuse, based on a readiness to addiction index.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 136 high school students (grade one), selected by a cluster sampling procedure from May 2014 to February 2015 in Zabol, Iran. The instrument for gathering data was a readiness to addiction questionnaire. This questionnaire included 41 items for which the scoring of each item followed the Likerts format. The data gathered was analysed using SPSS version 21 with descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.

RESULTS

The results revealed that the mean of the readiness to addiction index in the case group fell from 75.66±19.99 to 69.57±21.83 (paired t-test; p =0.02); in the control group the same index changed from 103.01±21.88 to 93.98±27.70 (paired t-test, p = 0.775). That is, the index decreased for both groups, but the reduction was statistically significant only for the case group (p =0.02).

CONCLUSION

This suggests that the narrative method is effective in reducing adolescents readiness to addiction. Storytelling is an effective way to raise awareness among young people about addiction and its detrimental impacts on health. Therefore, such a technique can be taken into consideration in teaching principles of prevention.