Spiritual interventions and self-stigma in the family of person who use drugs: a clinical trial study

Self-stigma in person who use drugs (PWUDs) and their families can create many difficulties for those struggling with drug use, impacting family support during treatment and rehabilitation. Therefore, interventions to manage or lessen this social issue within these families appear essential. This study assess the impact of spiritually interventions based Salim’s heart model on self-stigma in family members of PWUDs. In clinical trial study 60 first-degree family members of PWUDs receiving treatment in Khorramabad city in 2024 were selected via the cluster design method, adhering to eligibility criteria. The participants were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. In addition to standard clinical care for the experimental group, nine 1.5-h spiritual intervention sessions, based on the Salim’s Heart model, were provided in a group setting over time. The control group received standard clinic care only. Both groups were evaluated using demographic surveys and the self-stigma inventory in the families (SSI-F) PWUDs before and four weeks post-intervention. Data was analyzed in SPSS software version 27 using parametric and nonparametric statistical tests. Initially, the average self-stigma scores for family members of PWUDs in the experimental and control groups were as follows: 34.2 ± 9.88 for the experimental group and 35.4 ± 6.13 for the control group, indicating no statistically significant difference before the intervention ( P < 0.05). However, after the intervention, scores were significantly lower for the experimental group at 34.83 ± 22.67 as compared to 35.42 ± 6.42 for the control group ( P < 0.001). Intra-group analysis also revealed statistically significant reductions in self-stigma scores after the intervention within the experimental group ( P < 0.001), while the control group displayed no significant change ( P < 0.05). These results suggest that spiritual interventions could be an effective strategy in alleviating self-stigma within families of PWUDs, which holds important implications for promoting holistic treatment and recovery efforts.