Investigating the Relationship Between Male Students Health Belief Model about Smoking and Demographic Variables

Abstract

Objective: Regarding the importance of smoking prevention, especially in high school boys, who include the majority of adolescents in the country, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between male students' health beliefs about smoking and demographic variables. Methods: In this observational cross-sectional study, 250 high school male students in Fasa were randomly selected by cluster sampling. In order to collect information from the researcher-made questionnaire including demographic information and health belief model constructs were used. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data using SPSS 16.0 software. Results: Behavioral indices, perceived barriers and self-efficacy were inversely related to age at a significance level of less than 0.01. The increased education level of mothers and fathers was directly related to the level of awareness of students and the increase in education of fathers was inversely related to their awareness. Except perceived barriers and self-efficacy, other indicators have shown significantly different results in different occupations of mothers. Perceived severity and perceived benefits differed significantly in fathers' occupations. Conclusion: According to the results, with increasing age and subsequent increase in their awareness, the likelihood of tendency to smoke will decrease. Awareness should be provided in various ways, the most important of which is education by parents.