Effect of assertiveness program on the drug use tendency, mental health, and quality of life in clinical students of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences

BACKGROUND: Students on campus are exposed to drug abuse and mental health disorders due to various challenges and motivating factors. This issue requires attention to interventions based on coping skills training. The present study was conducted with the aim to investigate the effect of an assertiveness program on the drug use tendency, mental health, and quality of life in clinical students of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences in 2020. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a quasi-experimental study. Seventy clinical students (nursing, midwifery, and intern students) attending Ayatollah Kashani and Hajar teaching hospitals of Shahrekord were included into the study and randomly assigned into an intervention group and a control group. The assertiveness training program was implemented for eight 1-h sessions (one session per week for 2 months) for the intervention group, while the control group received no programs. Both study groups completed drug tendency questionnaire, depression, anxiety and stress scale, and quality of life questionnaire in pretest, posttest, and 2-month follow-up. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (v22), analysis of variance repeated measures, and t-test. RESULTS: The mean scores of drug use tendency (P = 0.26), stress (P = 0.31), anxiety (P = 0.29), depression (P = 0.43), and quality of life (P = 0.33) showed no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups in the pretest, but the scores of the drug use tendency, stress, anxiety, and depression were statistically lower and the score of quality of life was statistically higher than that of the control group in the posttest and 2-month follow-up (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings of the study showed that assertiveness skill training as a preventive program can reduce the students’ tendency to addiction and improve their mental health and quality of life. Considering the effectiveness of the program, planners and policymakers can use it to plan for reducing the youth tendency to drugs.