Investigating the Relation between Religious Orientation and Locus of Control with Tendency toward Substance Abuse, Case study: Addicts and Non-Addicts Men, Isfahan, 2018

Abstract

Introduction: Drug addiction, is one of the major challenges in human societies. This study aimed to investigate religious orientation, locus of control, and the tendency toward substance abuse in addicts and non-addicts in Isfahan, 2018.

Methods: A case-control method was used, and the study population was 200 men who participated in Isfahan. Cases were selected from drug-dependent using cluster sampling method. Allport’s Religious Orientation Scale, Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale, and Scale of Tendency toward Substance Abuse were used for data collection. The mean ± SD age of addicts was 34.8 (±4.35) years. Most addicts were illiterate 33% (33), and about 30% (30) had academic degrees. Finally, data analysis was done by SPSS version 16 and confidence Level was 95%.

Results: The groups were homogeneous in terms of income, number of children and residential area. The mean ± SD of religious orientation was in normal group 60.39 ± 3.26, addicted group 40.25 ± 7.8 and locus of control was in normal group 59.13 ± 3.17, and addicted group 45.45 ± 1.33 that findings of t-test showed that there was a significant difference in religious orientation (t= 5.40, p<0.003), and locus of control (t= 4.37, p<0.001) between addicts and normal individuals. There was a significant relationship between religious orientation (r=-0.328, p<0.04) and locus of control (r= -0.365, p<0.01) in addicts with a tendency toward substance abuse. confidence Level was 95%.

Conclusion: Poor religious orientation and lack of internal locus of control are important causes of the tendency toward substance abuse, which demands measures to be urgently taken.