The effect of therapeutic group and problem-solving therapy on developmental aspects of adolescents in drug misuse prevention

Abstract

Adolescents are socially and emotionally vulnerable to drug misuse. This study aims to determine the effect of therapeutic group (TG) and problem-solving therapy (PST) on adolescent developmental aspects in vocational high school for preventing drug misuse. This study was performed using a quasi-experimental design pre-post test without a control group. Subjects in this study were composed of 62 adolescents in the vocational high school selected using a purposive sampling technique and systematic random sampling. The subjects were given TG and PST. Data analysis was performed using repeated ANOVA with subsequent post hoc paired wise comparison test. The developmental aspects of adolescents increased significantly (p-value <0.05), which was higher after receiving TG and PST while remained in a good developmental category. There were significant differences from three times of measurement. TG and PST are recommended to be carried out to psychiatric-mental health nurses in improving developmental aspects as a protective factor in vocational high school students.