Self-esteem and illegal drug use in high school students

Adolescence is the period of stress and strain. Researchers have shown that adolescents in the absence of strong social supports will have tendency towards smoking and drug abuse. Objectives : This study aimed to evaluate the cause and effect relation between low self-esteem and illegal drug abuse. Materials and Methods : Participants were 943 high school students’ grades 9 to 12 of Sarakhs in 2010-2011. Adolescents participated in the study completed two self-report questionnaires. One questionnaire included questions about individual and family information, smoking and illegal drug abuse history ; and the other was Rosenberg's self-esteem scale. Results : 53.8 % of participants were males (507 individual). The mean Rosenberg self-esteem score was 19.8 + 5.2, and the most frequent obtained score was 22 from 30. The difference of Rosenberg self-esteem score test between two groups ; students who did not use any substance and students who had history of smoking or drug abuse like heroin, pills, alcohols, betel nut (Nas) and other drugs (such as Pan and Hookah) were significant (P < 0.001). But this difference was not significant for marijuana (hashish) and opium The difference of mean self-esteem scores between adolescents who lived with both or one of the parents, and adolescents who didn`t lived with any of parents, was significant (P = 0.04). There was also significant relation between number of children in family and self-esteem score. Conclusions : Current study showed that the association between Rosenberg self-esteem test results with smoking, and illegal drug abuse like heroin, pills, alcohol, Nas, and other substances was significant. So increasing self-esteem is essential for preventing adolescent’s emotional and behavioral disorders. This fact could guide us to the new approaches for preventing smoking and drug abuse in adolescents.