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

Abstract

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. 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.