Mediation effect of social skills between impulsivity with substance abuse in adolescents

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine mediation effect of social skills between impulsivity with substance abuse in adolescents. The research sample consists of 616 students of vulnerable high schools in Ardabil City. Together the data of Impulsivity Scale, Matson social skills scale and substance abuse survey were used [Matson, J. L., Rotatori, A. F., & Helsel, W. J. (1983). Development of a rating scale to measure social skills in children: The Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY). Behaviour Research and therapy, 21(4), 335-340.]. The results show that impulsivity indirectly is associated with substance abuse students (P<0.001) through the effect on social skills. The results indicate that high levels of impulsivity and low-level social skills increase substance abuse in students. These results are consistent with other existing results found in the literature.

Keywords

• Impulsivity
• Substance abuse
• Adolescents
• Social skills