Background: Tobacco use among adolescents is a major public health concern, and identifying predictors of smoking is necessary for planning prevention programs. The present study examined the relationship between refusal self efficacy, self esteem, smoking refusal skills and water pipe (hookah) smoking among Iranian male adolescents.
Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 380 Iranian male adolescents aged between 15-19 years selected by multistage sampling. The participants completed an anonymous, voluntary, self-report questionnaire. Variables independently associated with water pipe (WP) smoking were identified by multiple logistic regression analysis.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 16.7±1.3 years. The prevalence of WP smoking was 17.3%. Logistic regression analysis revealed that knowledge (OR=0.56; 95% CI: (0.37-0.79), attitude (OR=0.69; 95% CI: (0.52-0.89), self esteem (OR=0.67; 95% CI: (0.55-0.82), smoking refusal skills (OR=0.73; 95% CI: (0.55-0.87), and self efficacy (OR=.82; 95% CI: (0.61-0.93) were all signifcant prediting facotrs for adolescents WP smoking.
Conclusions: The findings have implications for public health interventions. Indeed, self efficacy and smoking refusal skills should be considered when developing tailored measures for the prevention of WP smoking among adolescents.