Background
The purpose of this study was to explore the predictors of smoking among high school students using health belief model (HBM).
Methods
In this cross-sectional study, participants were 425 boys (mean age was 16.7 ± 0.85 and ranged from 15 to 19 years) among high school students in Bandar-Abbas city. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire consisted of two main sections: Socio-demographic characteristics and HBM constructs. The zero-inflated ordered probit (ZIOP) model was used for investigating the association between health belief model constructs and smoking behavior.
Results
Results indicated that 82% of participants never smoked cigarette at all. The results of ZIOP model showed that knowledge, susceptibility, severity, benefits and cues to action had significant effect (P < 0.05) on smoking cigarette after adjusting for other covariates (i.e age, parents’ education, losing one of the parents). Moreover, having a smoker friend was an inflation factor (P < 0.001). Adolescents with smoking friends are 44% less likely not to smoke at all.
Conclusion
Based on these findings, having a smoker friend, knowledge, susceptibility, severity, benefits and cues to action have a key role in predicting smoking and should be considered in designing educational programs aiming at reducing smoking initiation among adolescents.