Health Belief Factors Affecting Smoking among Thai Male Students in School of Government and Islamic Private Schools in Malaysia

Abstract

The objective of the research was to study smoking behavior and health belief factors related to smoking among Thai male students studying in public and private Islamic educational institutions in Malaysia. The study included 247 participants and utilized a questionnaire as the research instrument. The factors of health beliefs and smoking included beliefs regarding perception of risk opportunities, perception of violence, perceived benefits, and perception of obstacles. The content validity value ranged from 0.67 to 1.00, and the reliability value was measured using Cronbach's alpha coefficients, which were 0.87, 0.96, 0.94, 0.92, and 0.85 for different factors. Descriptive statistics and stepwise multiple regression were used to analyze the data and predict the effect of belief factors on smoking behavior. The results showed that 61.9 percent of Thai male students had never smoked, while 38.1 percent had ever smoked. The overall level of health beliefs and smoking was moderate (Average = 143.1), with beliefs in perception of risk opportunities at a moderate level (Average=35.2), perception of violence at a moderate level (Average=40.5), perceived benefits at a high level, and perception of obstacles at a high level. Additionally, personal factors related to the students' subjects of study were found to have a significant impact on their smoking behavior, with a 4.25 times higher likelihood, at a statistical significance level of .001.