Gender-based differences in risk-taking behaviors among high school students in Southeast Iran

Ali Bahramnejad; Abedin Iranpour; Nouzar Nakhaee

doi:10.1515/ijamh-2019-0205

Artikel

Gender-based differences in risk-taking behaviors among high school students in Southeast Iran

Ali Bahramnejad , Abedin Iranpour und Nouzar Nakhaee

Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 8. Juni 2020

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Aus der Zeitschrift International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Band 33 Heft 6

Abstract

Objectives

Risk-taking behaviors among adolescents can negatively affect different dimensions of their health. This study was conducted to identify the gender-based differences in risk-taking behaviors among high school students in a Muslim population.

Methods

Grade 10 students studying in high schools located in Kerman Province, Iran were enrolled through cluster sampling (n=2,676), and data were collected using a well-validated questionnaire about violence, sexual behaviors, and traffic-related conduct over the past 12 months. The tool also consisted questions regarding drug use over the past 30 days and over lifetime (i. e., current and ever use of drugs, respectively)

Results

The number of female participants was 1,407 (52.6%). The boys who had girlfriends (33.0%) were almost twice as many as the girls who had boyfriends (17.1%). Among the respondents, 27.8 and 12.0% of the boys and girls engaged in physical fighting, respectively. Overall, the prevalence of water pipe use in the last 30 days (18.7%) and over lifetime (43.5%) was higher than that of the consumption of other substances. The second and third most popular substances used in the past 30 days among boys and girls were alcohol and cigarettes and cigarettes and alcohol, respectively. On the whole, marijuana figured in the lowest lifetime use among the respondents.

Conclusions

The rate of risk-taking behaviors in female students was lower than in males, and this difference was more evident than in Western countries. This discrepancy seems to be more obvious in cases where the religious prohibition of a behavior is greater such as extramarital intimacy.

Keywords: adolescents; drug use; gender; risky behavior; risky sexual behavior; students

Corresponding author: Nouzar Nakhaee, Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Islamic Republic of Iran, E-mail: nakhaeen@gmail.com, nakhaeen@kmu.ac.ir

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank all teachers and students who helped us during the data collection.

Author contributions: AB was the research assistant in data collection and research management. AI was research assistant in proposal development and data analysis. NN was the Principal Investigator. All authors are responsible for the project reports and all of them reviewed the manuscript and approved the final version for the publication.

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Received: 2019-09-27

Accepted: 2020-01-21

Published Online: 2020-06-08

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Artikel in diesem Heft

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2019-0205

Schlagwörter für diesen Artikel

adolescents; drug use; gender; risky behavior; risky sexual behavior; students