The Effectiveness of Addiction Prevention Training in Adolescents with a School-Based Approach on Emotional Irritability in Students

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student of Psychology, Department of Psychology, School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran.

2 Professor of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran.

10.22098/jrp.2025.16047.1259

Abstract

Irritable adolescents have an increased risk of anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, and addiction. The researchers conducted the present study to assess the effectiveness of educating adolescents on addiction prevention through a school-based approach targeting emotional irritability in students. The research method was semi-experimental a pre-test-post-test design with a control group and a two-month follow-up period. The research study included all (N=21) male students at the first secondary level in Karaj city in 2023. Researchers selected 30 students with a high addiction tendency from this population and assigned them to two experimental groups of 15 students each and one control group of 15 students through a random process. The participants of the experimental group received 8 90-minute sessions twice a week of the prepared educational package for addiction prevention, and the control group did not receive any intervention at the same time. The authors used the Emotional Irritability Questionnaire (IRQ) to collect data. We analyzed the data using the statistical method of analysis of variance with repeated measures in SPSS software.The results of the analysis of variance with repeated measurements show that there is a significant difference between the mean emotional excitability scores in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages in general (p<0.001); also, the interaction effect (0.89) of time and group membership in the emotional excitability variable is significant (p<0.001); in other words, the difference between emotional excitability scores in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up phases was significant in the entire research sample.

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