Document Type : Original Article
Authors
- Sima Afrashteh 1
- Abbas Abbasi-Ghahramanloo 2
- Mohebat Vali 1
- Mehdi Sharafi 1
- Maria Khishdoost Borazjan 3
- Amirhossein Darabi 4
- Leila Moftakhar 1
- Haleh Ghaem 5
1 Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
2 Department of Public Health, School of Health, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran
3 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
4 The Persian Gulf Tropical Medicine Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
5 Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Research Center for Health Sciences, Institute of Health, Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Abstract
Background and aims: Violence is recognized as a significant public health problem throughout the world. The present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of violence-related behaviors and its relationship with other risky behaviors, family support, and religiosity among students in Bushehr.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 977 students in Bushehr city, southern Iran, in 2016. Required data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire on violence-related behaviors and other risky behaviors. The validity of the questionnaire was measured by MPH students with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.90. Additionally, family support scale and religious belief questionnaire were applied. Data analysis was performed using chi-square, t test, and logistic regression model in SPSS version 16.0.
Results: The overall prevalence rates of weapon carrying and physical fighting were reported to be 9.1% and 7.1%, respectively. The findings of this study revealed that hookah use (OR: 2.93), physical fight (OR: 5.64), and having unsafe sex (OR: 2.42) were associated with weapon carrying (P < 0.001). Moreover, male gender (OR: 3.36), illicit drug use (OR: 3.64), weapon carrying (OR: 5.24), and family support (OR: 0.97) were shown to be associated with physical fight (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: The results of the present study suggested co-occurrence nature of risky behaviors. Given the high prevalence of violence-related behaviors, the implementation of preventive interventions for college students is of great importance.
Keywords
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