The effect of education based on the health belief model on preventive substance use behaviors in male high school students

Introduction: Substance abuse is associated with negative impacts on mental, physical, and central nervous system processes in humans. This study aimed to investigate the effect of education based on the health belief model on preventive behavior against substance use among male students. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 260 male high school students in Khorramshahr City, Iran, in 2018. The students were selected through the random cluster sampling method and they were divided into the experimental and the control groups. They completed the Masoudi Boroujeni’s questionnaire based on health belief model. The training program was held in five sessions based on the health belief model, and the post-test was held three months after the intervention. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, covariance analysis, SPSS version 20. Results: The results showed that in the post-test stage, by controlling the effect of pre-test scores, the effect of training in variables of perceived sensitivity (P 0.001), perceived severity (P 0.001), perceived benefits (P 0.001) and cues to action (P 0.001) was effective. Conclusion: It seems that implementing an educational intervention based on the health belief model can increase the perceived threat and prevent substance use behaviors in high school students.