The Attitudes of High School Students Studying in Sports High Schools in Turkey toward Addictive Substances

The aim of this study is to reveal the attitudes of students, who study in sports high schools in Turkey, toward addictive substances. The study group consisted of 326 randomly selected students from Elazig, Erzincan and Malatya Sports High Schools. In order to obtain the data from the research group, the Attitude toward Addictive Substances Scale, consisting of 45 items, was used. The data obtained from 326 students were analyzed in SPSS 22 Package software. Firstly, normality analysis was performed and it was decided to perform parametric and non-parametric tests according to the results. There was a statistically significant difference in age and class variables of the students. There was no statistically significant difference between the variables of gender, monthly income of the family and educational status of the parents. As a result of the study, it was observed that male and female students' attitudes toward addiction increased as age and class levels progressed. In this context, more attention should be paid to education-oriented studies to prevent addiction. It is suggested that educational activities, such as psychological support and health programs, provided by guidance teachers and psychological counselors should be increased in number.