Impact of Life Skills Education on Changing Attitudes toward Substance Abuse and Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors in Female Students

Background: The increasing positive attitudes of adolescents toward substance abuse and the prevalence of addiction are alarming. Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the impact of life skills education on changing attitudes toward substance abuse and promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors in females. Methods: This study was conducted based on an experimental design with a control group. The statistical population included all female students in girls’ public schools in District One of Tehran in the academic year 2020-2021. A total of 100 students were selected via the purposive sampling method and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups (n=50 in each group). The intervention group received life skills education for eight 60-minute sessions (two sessions per week), while the control group received no education. Data were collected using demographic information and two questionnaires: A Substance Abuse Attitude Survey and a Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 25) using independent T-tests, paired T-tests, and analysis of covariance. Statistical significance was considered at P 0.05. Results: The results demonstrated a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of attitudes toward addiction and lifestyle after the study, as indicated by the independent T-test (P=0.014; P=0.001). The results of the covariance analysis between the mean scores of attitudes toward addiction and lifestyle in the study groups revealed a statistically significant difference (P 0.01). Conclusion: Life skills education can be effective in changing attitudes toward substance abuse and promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors in female high school students.