Effectiveness of Stress Management Skill Training on the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Levels in Drug Addicts after Drug Withdrawal

Abstract

BackgroundStressful life events may cause initiation of drug use among people. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of stress management skill training on depression, anxiety and stress levels in drug addicts after withdrawal.ObjectivesThe population included all drug addicts after withdrawal in 2012 in Alborz province.Materials and MethodsThe study was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design with a control group. Levels of emotional reactions (depression, anxiety and stress) in all referrals to a counseling center for drug withdrawal in 2012 using the Depression, Anxiety, Stress (DASS-21) questionnaire was assessed. The study population included drug addicts after withdrawal. The sampling method was available sampling and random assignment. Thirty people who had higher emotional reactions were randomly selected and divided into two test (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. For the test group, a stress management skill training course was held in twelve 90-minute sessions, but the control group received no intervention. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS-19 software with analysis of covariance.ResultsThe results showed that stress management skill training has a significant effect on reducing emotional reactions (P < 0.01). It was noted that after 2 months test group follow-up, stress management training has retained its effect.ConclusionApparently, training addicts about life skills, particularly stress management seems to be a good idea.

The mediating and moderating effects of resilience on the relationship between perceived stress and depression in heroin addicts

“…Among those factors, stress has been identified to be a predictor of depressive disorders. Research conducted by Habibi, Tourani, Sadeghi, and Abolghasemi () provided empirical support for this. Their findings showed that effective the management of stress had a significant impact on reducing the level of depression in drug users.…”

The Effect of Life Skills Training on Controlling the Aggression of Drug Addicts under Treatment

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“…Treatments that have been made so far include cognitive behavioural therapies, stress management training, encouragement training and motivational intervention. [1,16,[19][20] Various studies have recently been done on LST. Studies conducted have focused on aspects of drug-abuse treatment programs, such as marital satisfaction, quality of life, and stress reduction, which have shown the effectiveness of LST on these factors.…”

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