Objective: Although substance addiction is a significant problem that is widespread among young people and threatens public health, it is seen that the protective factors related to the issue have not been examined sufficiently. This study aimed to determine the self-efficacy of vocational school students regarding protection from substance addiction and related factors.
Method: The research is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The research was conducted with 506 students studying at a vocational school. In line with the purpose of the research, “Personal Information Form” and “Substance Addiction Protection Self-Efficacy Scale” were used as data collection tools. Frequency distribution and variance analysis were used in the analysis of the data.
Results: 77.5% of the 506 participants who participated in the research were female and 22.5% were male. A statistically significant relationship was found between the participants’ self-efficacy regarding protection from substance addiction and the variables of gender, age, program of study and place of residence (p<0.005).
Conclusion: In order to increase the self-efficacy of vocational school students in protecting themselves from substance addiction, a course on combating addiction should be added to the curriculum, structured early intervention programs should be developed, and student communities and social support mechanisms should be strengthened.