the relation between students’ mental health and tendency toward risky behavior in pishva, iran

Background: risky behaviors can cause severe damage in communities. these behaviors are more common among the youth. this study aimed to investigate the mental factors associated with high-risk behaviors among university students in tehran province, iran.methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted on students selected using multistage sampling from different faculties in 2014-2015. in total, 477 students completed the youth risk-taking scale and mental health inventory-28. data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear regression.results: psychological well-being had a significant negative correlation with the tendency to risky behavior (p < 0.001). there was a strong significant correlation between psychological distress and smoking, drinking, and sexual risk-taking. this study revealed that students with a higher level of psychological well-being were less likely to engage in risky behaviors such as sexual risk-taking, careless driving, violence, smoking, and alcohol and drug abuse (p < 0.001).conclusion: the results of this study showed that mental health promotion can decrease risky behaviors among youths in iran.