simple and multiple relationships between big-five personality dimensions and addiction in university students

background: this study aimed at investigating the simple and multiple relationships between   personality traits and addic­tion potential in university students. methods: three hundred and forty two students were selected by cluster sampling from the shahid chamran university (iran). the scales used for this descriptive study were neo-ffi personality inventory and iranian addiction potential scale (iaps). to analyze the data, we used descriptive and inferential statistic test via spss-13. results: there were simple and multiple relationships between personality traits and addiction potential. multiple regres­sion analysis (stepwise method) showed that neuroticism, conscientiousness and agreeableness had significant multiple correla­tion with addiction potential (f=32.89, p <0.001). the components of openness and extroversion eli-minated from regres­sion. conclusion: personality traits predicted addiction potential in university students. the most important suggestion of this re­search was to pay attention scientifically to personality characters as a fundamental factor of this difficulty, rather than just empha­sizing on the cessation of drug or alcohol using.