Lifetime and current waterpipe use among adolescents in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Waterpipe use among Iranian adolescents has become a matter for concern. A descriptive, crosssectional community-based survey was performed in 2010 to determine the prevalence of waterpipe use and associated factors among Iranian adolescents in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. After multi-stage, random cluster sampling 1201 adolescents aged 15–18 years old responded to a questionnaire based on the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance. The prevalence of current waterpipe smoking [at least once in the previous 30 days] was 28.0%, significantly higher among males [34.8%] than females [21.4%]. A total of 45.1% of adolescents reported lifetime use [ever use] of waterpipes and 34.2% had ever shared a waterpipe. In multivariate logistic regression analysis the significant correlates of current waterpipe use for both males and females were having smokers among friends and family members, while for males, older age and educational failure were also risk factors.

Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the youth risk behavior survey questionnaire

Adolescents may get involved in high-risk behaviors. Surveys are the primary, and sometimes the sole source of data collection for many high-risk health behaviours. We examined the reliability and validity of the psychometric properties of the self-administered Persian version of the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System [YRBSS] questionnaire. In a methodological study in summer 2010, 100 Iranian adolescents aged 15-18 years were recruited through convenience sampling. The face and content validity were used for the questionnaire validity. In order to evaluate the questionnaire's reliability, the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient [ICC] and Cronbach's alpha were calculated for domains and 89 items. Among 89 items, the ICC values were below 0.4 [weak reliability] for 2 items [2.25%], 0.4-0.6 [moderate reliability] for 10 items [11.24%], 0.6-0.8 [good reliability] for 32 items [35.96%] and 0.8-1 [excellent reliability] for 45 items [50.56%]. The prevalence of most high-risk behaviors was constant in the first and second survey. The value of Cronbach's alpha was 0.73 for intentional and unintentional injuries, 0.77 for tobacco use, 0.86 for alcohol and other drug use, and 0.79 for unsafe sexual behaviors. No domain had a mean ICC of below 0.6. Furthermore, 97.75% of the items had moderate to excellent reliability. Thus, the Persian YRBSS questionnaire had an acceptable reliability. Over the 2-week period, sexual behaviors were reported with less consistency compared to other behaviors. In any case, researchers must be aware of the limitation of the data collected through this questionnaire, particularly in comparison to the domain of sexual behaviors. Overall, 97.75% of the items had moderate to excellent reliability. Thus, the Persian YRBSS questionnaire had an acceptable reliability

[Drug user girls' perceptions of their sexual decision making: Qualitative research]

Introduction: A critical issue for today's youth is developing drug user and high risk sexual behaviors. High risk sexual behavior is considered to be a process by which knowledge, attitudes, values, beliefs, and societal norms about sexuality are acquired. The study of adolescent risk behavior has been motivated by public health Concerns such as the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections [STIs]. Then, we need to understand how decision making about the initiation of sexual activity and persistence of this group. The purpose of this research was Drug User Girls' Perceptions of Factors That Influenced Their Sexual Decision Making

Methods: Using a qualitative approach, narrative stories, in depth interview, open and semi- structural interviews. We asked for drug user girl late adolescent participants to tell their stories about the events surrounding their decision to become sexually active, and how this initial decision affected subsequent decision making. We recruited a snowball sampling of 9 drug user girls in late adolescents between the ages of 18 and 22 years in the North Iran

Results: Six main themes emerged. These themes included the personal factors, external environmental factors, expected social norms, religious beliefs, implied sexual consent, absent of life skill regard to telling NO skill, poverty and addiction is the termination line of life

Conclusion: The results of this study show that drug user girl adolescent sexual decision making is a complex process with multiple factors of influence. Through the story and in-depth interview of the participants, we have constructed a more comprehensive understanding of drug user girl adolescent sexual decision making and related factors of their perception. This will guide the development of interventions to improve health care for these adolescents. These interventions include expanding health provider knowledge to inform research, sexual health education, and designing policies for addressing user drug girl adolescents' needs