comparing factors predisposing women and men to drug addiction

Background and purpose: drug addiction, as one of the most important health, mental, and social problems, causes people to conduct dangerous behaviors. different population groups are predisposed to drug addiction. this study aimed to compare the predisposing factors of women and men to drug addiction.materials and methods: the present study was a comparative descriptive study in which 350 drug addicts referred to addiction treatment centers in tehran city, iran, participated. they were selected using the convenience sampling method. the data collection tool was a questionnaire of demographic characteristics and a researcher-made questionnaire of factors predisposing to addiction, which included 62 questions in 5 dimensions. data were analyzed using spss software, version 22. descriptive statistics were used to describe the data, and inferential statistical tests (t-test, fisher exact test, chi-square test) were used to analyze them. a significance level of 0.05 was considered significant. results: the mean±sd female and male addicts’ ages were 29.62±7.5 and 33.08±7.9 years, respectively. the most common cause of addiction to drugs in both groups was psychological factors. among the problems in the family, both groups stated that they had a lot of strictness, laxity, tension, and violent behavior in the family, which was statistically significant (p<0.005). conclusion: di-oblems in society. our results will increase managers’ and planners’ awareness of implementing policies and preventive and control measures for addiction to prevent its consequences.