Health Risk and Deviant Behaviors among Undergraduate Students at an Academic Institute in Israel

IntroductionHealth risk behaviors are voluntary behaviors which lead to negative outcomes from a health perspective. A negative health outcome could be an injury, an illness or death. However, these behaviors could also have negative and problematic social outcomes for their implementer (1). The Problem Behavior Theory (PBT) explains that these behaviors are a product of an integration of risk factors which raise the probability of involvement in risk behaviors by providing a model for problematic behavior, broadening the possibilities of involvement in other risky behaviors, and magnifying the personal vulnerability of problematic behaviors. The model also introduces resilience factors which reduce the probability of involvement in risk behaviors by providing a model of positive social behaviors, by means of social and personal supervision and control, as well as a supportive social environment. Both risk and protective factors are present in all of our social and personal systems (2). According to this theory, health risk behaviors are related to each other and have a clustering effect.Illegal drug use is a common behavior among young-adults including undergraduate students. Cannabis products (marijuana and hashish) constitute the most common drug in general and among undergraduate students in particular (3). A comprehensive study conducted in Israel on behalf of the Israel Anti Drug and Alcohol Authority (IADA) in 2003 examined undergraduate student's attitudes towards drug use as well as drug use rates in a representative sample (N=6,965) from twelve higher education institutes. Over 40% of the students reported experiencing illegal drug use. Close to one third of the students (30%) reported illegal drug use within the last year. Cannabis was found to be the most common drug used amongst the illegal drugs (4). Excessive alcohol consumption is a growing phenomenon in the Israeli society. Studies in the field show an increase in excessive alcohol use and an expansion of the phenomenon in the various alcohol dimensions such as binge drinking and drunkenness. Binge drinking is defined as drinking five or more servings of alcohol within a few hours- that is, in one event. In research literature it is considered an extremely dangerous behavior, in which under the influence of such quantity of alcohol, judgment and response capabilities are significantly impaired (1, 5). Epidemiological data from various studies shows a significant increase in this behavior in recent years. Ezrahi, Rosiner, Nirel & Bar-Hamburger (6) reported an increase in beer drinking among young-adults aged 18-40 as well as a rise in reported drunkenness.Cigarette smoking was also examined among young-adults in several studies, and has proved to be a problematic risk behavior among adolescents (7). More than one third of the sample (37.6%) aged 18- 40 reported smoking cigarettes in 2009 (6), a lower incidence in comparison to 2005 (41.0%). Youth aged 18-24 reported smoking cigarettes at a higher frequency than the frequency in both of the older age groups (25-34 and 35-40) examined. The prevalence of male smokers (47.2%) was much higher than the prevalence of female smokers (28.0%). Approximately half of the student sample reported that they did not smoke or have ever smoked in the past. About 38% reported smoking cigarettes, and about a quarter reported smoking regularly (4). Hookah (water-pipe) smoking is a health risk behavior which has expanded in Israel over the last decade and a half from the prevalence of zero to that which is higher than that of cigarette smoking among adolescents (1, 5, 8). Hookah experiencing prevalence stood at 37.7% of Israeli youth while cigarette experiencing prevalence stood at 27.7%. A study conducted on a representative sample of youth in Israel in 2002 found that those who smoke a hookah have a higher incidence of involvement in other risk behaviors in comparison to those who do not smoke hookahs, such as: suffering injuries, involvement in violence, involvement in risky sexual behaviors, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and drug use. …