ADDICTA: THE TURKISH JOURNAL ON ADDICTIONS

Abstract

Citation: Potas, N., Erçetin, Ş. Ş., Açıkalın, Ş. N., Güngör, H., & Soydas Akyol, E. (2018). A comprehensive study on addiction: 3D scale on youth. Addicta: The Turkish Journal on Addictions, 5, 559‒575. http://dx.doi.org/10.15805/addicta.2018.5.3.0022 * This research was performed for the Determining Youths’ Knowledge, Awareness, Attitudes, and Stigmatization Regarding Substance Addiction and Addicts Project, which was conducted with the coordination of Dr. Nihan POTAS and funded by the Republic of Turkeys’ Ministry of Youth and Sports Youth Projects Support Program II of 2014: Summons Period. 1 Corresponding to: Nihan Potas (PhD), Department of Healthcare Management, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Gazi University, Ankara Turkey. Email: nihan_potas@hotmail.com 2 Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education, Hacettepe University, Ankara Turkey. Email: sefikasule@gmail.com 3 Department of International Relations, Middle East Technical University, Ankara Turkey. Email: suaynilhan@gmail.com 4 Institute of Educational Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara Turkey. Email: halime_gngr@yahoo.com 5 Department of Psychiatry, Yenimahalle Training and Research Hospital, Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Ankara Turkey. Email: esra_akyol@hotmail.com Abstract Substance addiction is a social problem that influences all dimensions of individuals’ lives, closing off their environment and disrupting their lives. Structuring the prosperity of society through youths, who have gained self-consciousness regarding the thought that healthy societies are able to occur through healthy generations and who have developed awareness on regarding substance addiction and addicts, is important for the future of the world and all countries. The aim of this research is to determine the levels of awareness levels (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation sub-dimensions), attitudes, and stigmatization of youths between the ages of 15-29 living in Ankara, Turkey regarding substance addiction and addicts. It also aims to look for differentiations among the variables of addiction according to employment status, educational status, gender, age range, and educational status. Voluntarily participating in the research, which was designed as a survey model and uses the mixed-methods strategy, are 1,117 youths. Overall, seminars, conferences, information meetings, and projects have an impact on youths’ awareness levels.