self-efficacy and drug-seeking behaviors in high school students in southern iran

background: the tendency to the use of drugs is a daily increase, especially among adolescents. we conducted the present study to investigate the role of self-efficacy in predicting drug-seeking behaviors among high school students in jahrom, fars province, iran. methods: this cross-sectional study was performed on high school students in jahrom, fars province, iran in 2020. the sample size was estimated to be 405 people who were chosen using multi-stage cluster sampling. the data collection tools here included demographic information questionnaire, iranian addiction potential scale, and self-efficacy questionnaire children scale. data analysis was performed with spss version 21 using descriptive statistics and pearson’s correlation coefficient, independent t-test, one-way anova, and linear regression. results: there was a significant inverse correlation between self-efficacy and drug-seeking behaviors (r=-598, p 0.001). additionally, the results revealed a relationship between grade, father’s job, mother’s education, and smoking history in friends and parents with self-efficacy (p=0.002, p=0.012, p=0.004, p=0.006, p=0.005, respectively) and drug-seeking behaviors (p 0.001). father’s job, friends’ smoking history, and self-efficacy were significant factors inversely associated with drug-seeking behaviors (p=0.003, p 0.001, p 0.001, respectively). conclusion: high levels of self-efficacy of students and educated families can play a protective role against drugs use. further focus on prevention, especially on capacity building and the empowerment of young people can reduce the tendency to use drugs.