Relation between communication skills and coping mechanisms in substance abusers at Tehran therapeutic community center

ABSTRACT

This project was conducted to appraise the communication and coping skills of sub-stance abusers residing at a therapeutic community center. It also evaluated the relation between the scores of communication skills and coping strategies. 25 male substance abusers residing at a therapeutic community center in Tehran participated in this descriptive-analytical study. These detoxified subjects were evaluated by two means, Coping Strategies Checklist consisting of problem-focused, emotion- focused, and low effective and uneffective copings; the second mean was Assessment of Communication and Interactional Skills, an observational test composed of three sections of physical aspects, information exchange, and relationships. Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient. The mean score of problem-focused coping strategy was higher than emotion-focused, and lower effective and uneffective coping scores. The mean score of communication skills was quite high. No significant relation was found between various sections of communication skills and coping strategies. The addicts' communication skills are at an acceptable and appropriate level. Although this group is not a complete representative of substance abusers population, they do not seem to have significant difficulties in terms of communication skills. This is an important matter in planning the content of life skills training, and for this group, it is better to utilize more suitable methods to improve their coping strategies