The effect of web-based family-centered empowerment program in preventing the risk factors of substance abuse in students’ parents; application of the health promotion model

BACKGROUND: The age of onset of substance abuse among adolescents has recently decreased worldwide. Parents play an important role in preventing their children from drug abuse. This study aimed to investigate the effect of web-based family-centered empowerment program in preventing the risk factors of substance abuse in students’ parents, using the health promotion model (HPM). MATERIAL AND METHODS: This interventional study was based on 118 parents of high school students in Sabzevar, Iran (2019). Multi-stage random sampling was used to divide the participants into the experimental (n = 65) and control (n = 65) groups. The data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire based on Pender's HPM. A website was designed to perform all stages of the study. The web-based educational intervention was performed for the experimental group. Both groups completed the questionnaires 2 months after the educational intervention. The data were analyzed using t-test, paired t-test, regression, correlation, and analysis of covariance. RESULTS: There was a significant difference between the scores of prior related behavior, perceived benefits of action, activity-related effect, situational influences, competitors, and commitment in the parents of the experimental group compared to the control group after the educational intervention (P-value < 0.05). Moreover, a significant difference was observed between preventive behaviors of substance abuse and the mean score of perceived barriers to action, perceived self-efficacy, interpersonal influences, and role model in the parents of the experimental group compared to the control group after the educational intervention (P-value < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Overall, designing an educational intervention based on the constructs of Pender's HPM could be an effective strategy for promoting preventive behaviors of substance abuse in parents.