The Relationship between Self-Efficacy, Impulsiveness and Social Skills with Substance Abuse

The present research was conducted to determine the relationship between self-efficacy, impulsiveness and social skills with substance abuse in high school students. 400 male junior high school students were selected by cluster sampling method from 10 schools (40 students from each school) in Arak city during the academic year of 2010-2011 and completed the self-efficacy Scale (Sherer, 1982), Impulsiveness Scale (Barrat, 1994), Social Skills Questionnaire (Matson, 1983) and Substance Abuse Checklist (Karimi, 2010). Data analysis was done using the correlation method and both enter and step by step multivariable regression analysis. The results indicated that behavioral impulsivity and lower levels of social skills have meaningful contributions in predicting substance abuse among high school students. Also, behavioral impulsiveness, lower scores of self-efficacy, social skills, and lack of thinking and planning accounted significantly for the vulnerability of students towards substance abuse.