The relationship between identity styles and addiction vulnerability: A cross-sectional study among medical students in Zahedan, South Eastern Iran

Very little research done on the relationship between identity styles and addiction vulnerability among university students. This study aims to evaluate the extent to which identity styles can influence addiction vulnerability among medical students in Zahedan, Iran. The present cross-sectional study being conducted at Zahedan University of Medical Sciences from 2015 to 2016. The study sample consisted of 205 pre-clinical medical students (60% Female, 40% male) recruited. Berzonsky's Identity Style Questionnaire and Addiction Potential questionnaire, respectively measured “Identity Styles and addiction vulnerability”. The multivariate linear analysis was conducted applying backward stepwise selection method. The female students shown more normative oriented than the male ones (p = 0.01). Students living in own house had significantly higher scores for diffuse avoidant style and addiction vulnerability compared with other types of accommodation (p  ≤  0.01). Multivariable regression analysis demonstrated that the final model included accommodation, admission qouta, normative, diffuse-avoidant and commitment styles, as addiction vulnerability may be higher as the results of lower normative style indicated (β = −0.54; 95% confidence interval: −1.00 to −0.08), higher diffuse-avoidant (0.41; 0.09 to 0.74) and lower commitment style (−0.79; −1.22 to −0.37). The study provides direct evidence of potential role of identity formation on the addiction vulnerability among medical students.