The role of emotional self-awareness, referral thinking and mental vitality in predicting relapse in women using drugs

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of emotional self-awareness, referral thinking, and mental vitality in predicting relapse in women using drugs. This research was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population of this study was women who used drugs referring to harm reduction centers and night shelters in Tehran, District 12. Among them, 60 people who were on withdrawal for a maximum of two weeks were selected by purposive sampling. Research tools included the Addiction Return Prediction Questionnaire (Wright, 1993), Emotional Self-Awareness (Grant et al., 2002), Reference Thinking (Ering, 2010), and Mental Vitality (Ryan and Frederick, 1997). Pearson correlation test and simultaneous linear regression were used to analyze the data. Findings showed that returning to addiction had a positive and significant relationship with referral thinking (repetitive negative thoughts, perceived dysfunction, and mental capacity capture) and a negative and significant relationship with emotional self-awareness (recognition, identification, communication, problem-solving, environmentalism) and mental vitality (P <0.05). Regression results also showed that recognition (-0.38), communication (-0.20), problem solving (-0.26), repetitive negative thoughts (0.22), perceived inefficiency (0.40), mental capacity capture (0.31) and mental vitality (-0.38) predict a return to addiction. Given the role of emotional self-awareness, referral thinking, and mental vitality in predicting a return to addiction in women drug users, it is necessary to conduct workshops based on these concepts to people who are quitting drugs.