Background and objective: Adolescence is the most dangerous of lifetime regarding the onset of substance abuse and education is one of the most important methods to prevent this problem. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of an educational intervention in the prevention of substance abuse among adolescents in Qazvin city using the theory of planned behavior (TPB).

Materials and methods: This study was a quasi-experimental study. With multi-stage sampling method, 216 students participated in the experimental and control groups. Five focus group discussions (including 8-15 members) were presented to the experimental group mainly based on role-playing, brain storming and group discussions methods. Self-reporting questionnaires were used for data collection consisted of demographic questions, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intention and preventive behavior with 5-point Likert response options. Reliability and validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha and test-retest coefficient. The data collected before and 2 months after training were analyzed with SPSS 20 and Chi-square, pair and independent t-test, and Fisher's exact test.

Results: The mean scores of attitude (from 26.3±17.4 to 45.7±21.6), subjective norms (from 20.4±14.6 to 33.4±15.2), perceived behavioral control (from 36.6±20.9 to 58.4±27.3), intention (from 6.24±2.2 to 11.4±3.8) and addiction related preventive behavior (from 24.11±9.5 to 40.6±13.7) were significantly improved after educational intervention among the experimental group (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: TPB provides an appropriate framework for designing educational interventions to prevent substance abuse among adolescents and its application in health promotion programs in schools and prevention of substance abuse is recommended.

Paper Type: Research Article.

Background and objective: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is an important issue in the field of children's health promotion. The aim of this study was to identify the predictive factors of breastfeeding behaviors in order to improve the quality of breastfeeding among Iranian mothers.

Materials and methods: A longitudinal study was conducted to collect the data from a large sample of 1445 six-months postpartum mothers referred to health centers in the city of Qazvin, Qazvin province, Iran in 2014. Demographic variables and the constructs of Theory of Planned Behavior (TBP) were measured by a questionnaire. Use of Pearson and Spearman correlation tests along with analysis of variance were conducted to investigate potential associations. Then both hierarchal multiple regression and logistic regression were applied to identify potential determinative factors through SPSS version 21.00.

Results: The average age of the participants was 28.6 ± 5.5 and the majority of maternal were housewives (75.2%). Variables such as age, income, employment and primiparity were associated with EBF (p < 0.05). The constructs of TPB could significantly predict the EBF behavior, which accounts for 59% of the variance among the predicting factors. Self-identity and moral norms could increase the variance by an additional 15%. Younger mothers with lower education levels and insufficient income were at higher risk of EBF cessation.

Conclusion: Interventions to promote knowledge, attitude and behavioral control towards EBF among the young mothers with low socioeconomic status should be considered.

Paper Type: Research Article.