Predicting to reduce water pipe smoking in male adolescents: using multi theory model (MTM)

ABSTRACT

Background: Water pipe (WP) smoking has increased and become a major leisure pastime among young people in Iran. The aim of this study was to test MTM in its ability to predict reducing WP smoking in male adolescents.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed with730 high school male students (grades 10–12), who were recruited through multi-stage random sampling in Hamadan city in Western Iran in 2017. We included 200 students who had smoked WP in the 30 past days (current smoker) determined by a screening question. The self-administered questionnaire included information on demographic variables and MTM constructs related to WP smoking. The questionnaire had acceptable validity and reliability.

Results: The regression analysis revealed that 35.7% of the variance in initiating reducing WP smoking behavior was predicted by participatory dialog (p < .001) and behavioral confidence (p < .001). Sustenance of reducing WP smoking behavior was predicted up to 13.5% by emotional transformation (p < .001), practice for change (p < .05) and changes in the social environment (p < .05).

Conclusions: MTM appears to be a robust theory in its application for reducing WP smoking. This theory must be reified and empirically tested with intervention development for WP smoking behavior in male students.

Abbreviations: MTM: Multi-Theory Model; WP: Water pipe

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• reduction
• student
• water pipe smoking
• multi-theory model

Acknowledgments

We thank our participants, the staffs of Education District 1 and 2 of Hamadan city.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Number grant [960115134].