The Effect of Life Skills Training on Reducing the High-Risk Behaviors among High School Students in Kermanshah, North West of Iran

Background The prevalence of high-risk behaviors in adolescents is one of the most important concerns of the community; this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of life skills training on decreasing high risk behaviors among high school boy students. Materials and Methods In a quasi-experimental study, the statistical population included Mullah Sadra boy high school students in the academic year of 2017-2018. In this research, the sampling was done in two stages; first, to identify the individuals with high-risk behavior questionnaire, was used and 30 students who have high-risk behavior and willing to participate were selected and randomly assigned to intervention group (n=15) and control group (n=15). The educational intervention consisted of 12 sessions (each session was 60-120 minutes). The Life Skillsquestionnaire was completed by two groups before, after and one month after intervention; and data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23.0. Results The mean of pre-test, post-test and follow-up scores in the intervention group for variances of substance abuse, violence, insecure sexual behavior and high-risk behaviors were lower than the control group. But the mean score of life skills in the intervention group was higher than the control group. The results of the analysis of variance showed that the post-test difference of the studied groups (intervention and control) in the components of high risk behaviors in the health area, substance abuse and violence was significant (P<0.05), but in insecure sexual behavior (p=0.766) was not significant. Conclusion According the results, Educational intervention had a positive impact on reducing of high-risk behaviors in boy high school students.