Associations Between Coping Strategies, Perceived Social Support, and Substance Use Among Individuals in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study
Alaa Nabil Mahsoon, Ali Fahad Alzahrani, Alzubair Alshamkhi, Muteb Abdullah Alzahrani, Omar Durhum AlBaqami, Loujain Sharif, Khalid SharifIntroduction
Substance use is an important public health concern in Saudi Arabia. Coping strategies and perceived social support may be associated with substance-use patterns, but these relationships remain underexplored among individuals who report substance use in the Saudi context. This study aimed to examine substance-use patterns and their associations with coping dimensions, perceived social support, and selected sociodemographic characteristics among individuals in Saudi Arabia.
Methods
A cross-sectional correlational design was used with 237 individuals who reported current or past substance use. Coping was assessed using the Brief COPE subscales, and perceived social support was measured using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Data were analyzed using chi-square tests, Mann–Whitney U tests, and Spearman’s correlation coefficients.
Results
Most participants were male (88.2%), Saudi (85.2%), single (87.3%), and aged 22–26 years (43.5%). The most commonly reported substances were tobacco cigarettes (40.5%), hashish (14.8%), heroin (11.8%), pregabalin/Lyrica (11.4%), methamphetamine (10.5%), and amphetamine (10.5%). The most frequently reported age category for first substance use was 19–23 years (35.4%). Males reported significantly higher perceived social support than females on the MSPSS total score (47.84 ± 18.19 vs. 38.00 ± 14.10, p = 0.003). Tobacco cigarette use was associated with higher problem-focused coping (18.45 ± 5.59 vs. 15.79 ± 5.81, p < 0.001), emotion-focused coping (27.54 ± 8.30 vs. 24.37 ± 8.43, p = 0.006), and avoidant coping (17.76 ± 5.18 vs. 15.21 ± 5.18, p < 0.001). Perceived social support was positively correlated with problem-focused coping (r = 0.342, p < 0.001), emotion-focused coping (r = 0.377, p < 0.001), and avoidant coping (r = 0.260, p < 0.001).
Conclusion
Perceived social support and coping responses were associated with substance-use patterns in this sample. Culturally responsive and gender-sensitive approaches that consider social support and coping responses may be useful in substance-use prevention and care.