What Components of Adolescents' Responsibility are Effective in Preventing Addiction?

In most countries, the age of addiction is declining, and the prevalence of adolescent addiction is increasing. Many factors can affect the addiction tendency; one of them can be a sense of responsibility. This study was designed to evaluate the probable relation between addiction tendency and responsibility.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in Isfahan in 2018. A total of 496 high school students aged from 15 to 18 years were selected by a multistage cluster and systematic random sampling method. Students' responsibility and adolescents' addiction tendency questionnaire were used. The collected data were analyzed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20 using Chi-square test, independent t-test, multivariate analysis of variance, and linear regression.

The mean age of participants was 16.50 ± 1.12. The results showed that boys' out-of-home activities were more than girls (P < 0.001), but there was no significant difference between girls and boys regarding indoor activities. Furthermore, it was found that girls were more responsible than boys (P = 0.004) and addiction tendency was higher in boys (P = 0.001). Social responsibility and addiction tendency had a significant negative relationship in this research (P < 0.001). In addition, parents' education, the feeling of belonging, and the sense of security had an effect on the addiction tendency (P < 0.001 for all).

This study showed that social responsibility could affect the addiction tendency.