The Effect of Educational Intervention Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior on the Prevention and Risk Reduction Behavior of Substance Abuse

The prevalence of drug abuse has been one of the most serious challenges to the healthcare system resulting in several psychological, medical, and social complications. The present study examines the effect of educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior on the prevention and risk reduction behavior of substance abuse in patients referred to drug addiction treatment centers in the southern region of Iran This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 130 addicts referred to Fasa Drug Addiction Treatment Center in 2020. A random sampling method was adopted to divide the samples into the control and experimental groups (n=65). Educational Intervention based on the Theory of Planned Behavior was followed in six forty-minute sessions in the experimental group. Data were analyzed by the paired t-test, independent t-test, and Chi-squared test using SPSS-22 software.  There was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intention toward substance abuse preventive behavior before the educational intervention (P>0.05); however, there was a significant growth of attitude (53.06±4.48), subjective norms (35.34±3.65), perceived behavioral control (34.37±4.6), intention (7.38±1.92) toward substance abuse preventive behavior in the experimental group three months after the educational intervention (P<0.05). Educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior has effectively reduced substance abuse in the addicts treated with methadone. Accordingly, health system policymakers and managers can use the results of this study for planning and educational interventions in the prevention and risk reduction behavior of substance abuse.