violence-related behaviors among iranian university students: prevalence, risk factors, and its relationship with religiosity and family support

Background and aims: violence is recognized as a significant public health problem throughoutthe world. the present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of violence-related behaviors and itsrelationship with other risky behaviors, family support, and religiosity among students in bushehr.methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 977 students in bushehr city, southerniran, in 2016. required data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire on violence-relatedbehaviors and other risky behaviors. the validity of the questionnaire was measured by mph studentswith a cronbach’s alpha of 0.90. additionally, family support scale and religious belief questionnairewere applied. data analysis was performed using chi-square, t test, and logistic regression model inspss version 16.0.results: the overall prevalence rates of weapon carrying and physical fighting were reported to be9.1% and 7.1%, respectively. the findings of this study revealed that hookah use (or: 2.93), physicalfight (or: 5.64), and having unsafe sex (or: 2.42) were associated with weapon carrying (p < 0.001).moreover, male gender (or: 3.36), illicit drug use (or: 3.64), weapon carrying (or: 5.24), and familysupport (or: 0.97) were shown to be associated with physical fight (p < 0.001).conclusion: the results of the present study suggested co-occurrence nature of risky behaviors. giventhe high prevalence of violence-related behaviors, the implementation of preventive interventions forcollege students is of great importance.