The effectiveness of addiction prevention training based on dialectical behavior therapy on family friendship and loneliness in adolescent boys

Abstract

The ever-evolving addiction poses a serious threat to the younger generation today. Addiction mostly threatens individuals with mental vulnerabilities and poor interpersonal relationships—both within the family and among peers. Thus, having an effective communication skill serves as a critical component in addiction prevention programs. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)-based addiction program on adolescents, focusing on its impact on family connectedness and feelings of loneliness. This semi-experimental study employed a pretest–posttest–follow-up design with two experimental and control groups. The study population consists male adolescents aged 12–18 in Isfahan during 2024. Forty male adolescents were selected through a purposive sampling, considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The selected participants were then randomly assigned to the experimental or control groups. All participants were assessed three times during the three stages of the study, using the Family Connectedness Questionnaire and the UCLA Loneliness Scale. The control group was placed on a waiting list, while the experimental group received ten 90-min sessions of the DBT-based addiction prevention training. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, as well as the repeated-measures analysis of variance. The results indicated that the intervention significantly improved both family connectedness and reduced feelings of loneliness ( P < 0.05). Based on the findings, the DBT-based addiction prevention program has been shown to be an effective intervention for enhancing the dependent variables of the present study.