Hookah Use: Could Families Be A Risk Factor for Future Addiction?

Peer pressure and social acceptability between hookah pipe users and non-users among a sample of South African adolescents

Background. Hookah pipe smoking is a high-risk phenomenon which is widely seen as an acceptable social practice, but the extent of its acceptability is not very clear among South African youth, nor is the influence of peers very clear.Objective. To establish a link between social acceptability and peer pressure and to compare this relationship among hookah pipe users and non-users in a sample of South African adolescents.Methods. A cross-sectional comparative correlation study was conducted among Grade 9 adolescents attending secondary schools in the Metro East Education District in Cape Town. The final sample comprised 270 participants. A questionnaire was used to collect data which were analysed using SPSS.Results. No relationship was found between peer pressure and social acceptability, but a relationship was found between parental rules and monitoring around tobacco use for hookah pipe users. A significant difference was also found in attitudes towards hookah use among users and non-users.Conclusion. This descriptive study of hookah pipe users and non-users among Grade 9 adolescents is a further study in the quantitative research approach and may be helpful in gaining more insight into understanding how parental rules and monitoring are put in place and why users’ and non-users’ attitudes towards tobacco use differ significantly. The implications and significance of this study are further explained.

Sociocultural factors contributing to waterpipe tobacco smoking among adolescents and young adult women: a qualitative study in Iran

Purpose: Waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) is currently a serious and growing public health threat in the world, especially in adolescents and young women. The aim of the study was to explore sociocultural factors contributing to WTS among adolescents and young adult women in Iran. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted from August 2017 to January 2019 in Isfahan and Hamadan cities, Iran; it included 13-30-year-old females with experience of WTS. For data collection, in-depth semi-structured personal interviews were conducted at participants' preferred time and place. Concurrent with data collection, data were analysed through conventional content analysis. Results: The study participants described the various sociocultural factors contributing to WTS. These factors were categorized into four following main categories: waterpipe glamorization by its producers and sellers, media advertisement or silence, common sociocultural traditions, and governmental policies and regulations. Conclusion: A wide range of sociocultural factors affects WTS among Iranian adolescents and young adult women. Therefore, interdisciplinary multidimensional strategies are needed for WTS management and prevention among these at-risk groups. Public education, strict supervision of tobacco import, export, and selling, ample employment opportunities for young people and effective leisure time management are essential to reduce WTS.Abbreviation WTS: Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking; MPOWER: Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies, Protect people from tobacco smoke, Offer help to quit tobacco use, Warn about the dangers of tobacco, Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, Raise taxes on tobacco.

Family functioning and satisfaction: A comparative study between hookah users and non-users

BACKGROUND

Although there has been an exponential growth in hookah use on a global scale, research within the context of South Africa is very limited. While hookah use is known internationally to be a health and addiction risk, the focus is on university students and not on families.

AIM

This study aims to compare the family functioning and family satisfaction among hookah users and non-users.

SETTING

This study was conducted in low or middle-high class socio-economic status areas of Cape Town, South Africa.

METHODS

A quantitative method was employed to test for significant differences with a sample of 1193 participants, in which each participant represented a family. An independent t-test was used to test for significant differences between hookah users and non-users.

RESULTS

One-third (34%) of the participants indicated that they smoked hookah pipe, with the general age of onset being 16.5 years. In trying to understand the family context, it was found that 28% of hookah users indicated that the hookah pipe was used as a means of socialising with others in the family, and 24% of parents indicated that they were more accepting of family members smoking the hookah pipe. Findings also suggest that families of hookah users have less cohesion, expressiveness and family satisfaction, and more conflict and permissiveness than families of non-users.

CONCLUSION

This study provides and extends knowledge regarding the family in hookah pipe use. This information could assist in reducing hookah pipe use, and building healthier and more resilient communities by formulating prevention and intervention strategies to reduce hookah use.