Substance abuse in relation to religiosity and familial support in Iranian college students

Drug abuse and alcohol use in young adults are a major public health problem. The aims of present study were to determine the prevalence of alcohol use and substance abuse and related factors in a sample of Iranian college students.

The study took place in Tabriz (northwest of Iran) in April and May, 2011. The randomly selected sample consisted of 1837 college students. Data were collected in a survey. A self-administered questionnaire was used to measure smoking, sexual behavior, alcohol and drug use, religious belief, and parental support.

The prevalence of alcohol use in the past 30 days and ever drug abuse were 7.7% and 8.0%, respectively. After adjusting for other factors, living in dormitory in comparison to parental home (OR=0.61) and having higher score of religious beliefs (OR=0.98) were protective factors for ever use of illicit drugs. Being male (OR=1.89), living in the single house in comparison to parental home (OR=2.64), smoking (OR=2.0), alcohol use (OR=4.71), hookah smoking (OR=2.89), and having unsafe sex (OR=2.40) were risk factors ever use of illicit drugs.

Our results show low prevalence of alcohol use and drug abuse in Iranian college students and determined some of its associated factors. The findings of this research can be used for planning and evaluating interventions by considering risk and protective factors.