Drug use among college students

ISSUES: Meta-analysis was conducted to examine standalone web-based personalised feedback interventions (PFI) delivered in non-structured settings for reducing university students' alcohol consumption. Subgroup analyses by gender-focus, type-of-content and accessibility were conducted. Characteristics of the sample, the intervention and study quality were examined as moderators. APPROACH: Ten databases were searched from 2000 to 2023. Eligible articles involved only randomised controlled trials...

OBJECTIVE: To assess demographic, substance use, and mental wellbeing factors associated with high-intensity drinking (HID; 10+ drinks on one occasion) among college- and non-college young adults, to inform prevention and intervention efforts. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1,430 young adults (819 in college and 611 not attending college) in a Midwestern state who reported trying alcohol at least once. METHODS: Participants were recruited via social media between November 2019 and February 2020 to complete a web-based survey assessing demographics, substance use, and mental well-being...

Background : Co-use of alcohol and other drugs within a certain time frame (i.e., polysubstance use) has become increasingly prevalent, particularly among college-aged individuals, but understanding motives for co-use remains limited. Polysubstance use has been associated with a higher likelihood of negative health consequences as compared to single substance use. Objectives : The current study examined associations between motivations for using alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis among college students who use multiple substances versus students using only one substance or no substances...

As students transition to university, they experience significant social changes that can affect their behaviors, including self-damaging behaviors like disordered eating, problematic alcohol/drug use, suicidal thoughts, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Building on prior work, we examined the associations between (1) perceptions of peers' engagement in self-damaging behaviors predicting one's own subsequent engagement in such behaviors (i.e., socialization) and (2) one's own engagement in self-damaging behaviors predicting perceptions of peers' subsequent engagement in such behaviors (i...

OBJECTIVE: To explore pharmacy students' perception of the content and pedagogical strategies used for the delivery of drug information (DI) training. METHODS: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was conducted among BSc Pharmacy and PharmD students at the College of Pharmacy, Qatar University (QU-CPH). The first phase consisted of a quantitative cross-sectional survey using a 34-item pretested questionnaire. The Donabedian framework guided the development of the questionnaire...

OBJECTIVE: Pregaming is common among college students and is associated with heavy drinking and negative alcohol-related consequences. The use of cannabis on pregaming days may exacerbate negative alcohol-related consequences, and the ordering of when cannabis is used on these days may buffer against or intensify these consequences. Considering the growing rates of simultaneous use of cannabis and alcohol among college students, it is necessary to examine the role of pregaming behaviors in the context of cannabis use and resulting effects on alcohol-related consequences...

Alcohol consumption has profound effects on behavior, such as impaired judgment, addiction or even death. It is estimated that alcohol contributes to around three million deaths worldwide, 13.5% of them in young people with ages between 20 and 39 years. Consequently, it is necessary to raise awareness among college and high school students of the risk related to alcohol drinking. The small nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is an animal widely used as a model organism to study nearly all aspects of Biochemistry...

OBJECTIVE: University students who experience more discrimination typically report more negative consequences from alcohol use. The study aimed to assess whether drinking to cope and protective behavioral strategies for alcohol use would help explain the relationship between everyday discrimination and alcohol-related consequences among university student drinkers. METHOD: Data were collected in Fall 2020 and the sample included 707 undergraduate and graduate students from a large public institution in the northeast who reported consuming alcohol in the past month...

BACKGROUND: Emerging adults (EAs) who are not 4-year college students nor graduates are at elevated risk for lifetime alcohol use disorder, comorbid drug use, and mental health symptoms, compared to college graduates. There is a need for tailored brief alcohol intervention (BAI) approaches to reduce alcohol risk and to facilitate healthy development in this high-risk population. Most BAIs include a single session focused on discussing risks associated with drinking and correcting normative beliefs about drinking rates...

Objective: While college student drinking has been studied utilizing many different theories and approaches, it is unclear how these theories may overlap in their explanation of problematic drinking. Rather than relying on one theory, examining overlap between multiple theories of alcohol use may lead to a better understanding of the motivational process underlying drinking behavior. The current study proposes that the Ambivalence Model of Craving, Behavioral Economics, and Alcohol Outcome Expectancy Theory account for the same underlying anticipatory process and sought to demonstrate this by establishing motivational profiles utilizing constructs within each theory...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the association between alcohol and cannabis use patterns and bystander intervention for sexual and relationship violence risk among college students who have used cannabis in the past year. The study tested two hypotheses: (1) reports of bystander opportunities will differ based on participants' alcohol and cannabis use patterns, and (2) among those who report bystander opportunities, reports of bystander behaviors will differ based on their alcohol and cannabis use patterns...

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol expectancies are beliefs people have about the likelihood of experiencing various positive or negative consequences related to alcohol use. Expectancies have most commonly been treated as trait-like characteristics of individuals, but some researchers have assessed expectancies as state-level characteristics that vary within-persons across days. Previous work developed a 13-item daily alcohol expectancies measure. This study evaluated an expanded version of that measure that includes 10 additional expectancy items...

Studies indicate that non-heterosexual young adults experience higher rates of mental health problems in various settings. This study seeks to further explore these associations, distinguishing heterosexual, gay/lesbian, bisexual and individuals questioning their sexual identity. Data were drawn from the French portion of the World Mental Health International College Student survey initiative ( n  = 3,545). Logistic regressions were performed to estimate the associations of sexual orientation with 12-month mental disorders and suicidal ideation and behaviors...

INTRODUCTION: Personal drug exercise helps in the selection of drugs depending on the criteria- safety, efficacy, suitability and cost. Undergraduate medical students are the future practitioners-in-training and should focus more on rational prescribing. This study aimed to find out the prevalence of positive attitudes towards personal drug selection among undergraduate medical students of a medical college. METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among second and third-year medical students after obtaining ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee...

Background: Emerging adults (EAs) who are not 4-year college students nor graduates are at elevated risk for lifetime alcohol use disorder, comorbid drug use, and mental health symptoms, compared to college graduates. There is a need for tailored brief alcohol intervention (BAI) approaches to reduce alcohol risk and to facilitate healthy development in this high-risk population. Most BAIs include a single session focused on discussing risks associated with drinking and correcting normative beliefs about drinking rates...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of urine HIV antibody rapid test kits in screening diverse populations and to analyse subjects' willingness regarding reagent types, purchase channels, acceptable prices, and self-testing. DESIGNS: Diagnostic accuracy studies PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2606 valid and eligible samples were collected in the study, including 202 samples from female sex workers (FSWs), 304 persons with injection drug use (IDU), 1000 pregnant women (PW), 100 subjects undergoing voluntary HIV counselling and testing (VCT) and 1000 students in higher education schools or colleges (STUs)...

This study examines the association of criminal legal system involvement and age with substance use and academic related outcomes among students involved in collegiate recovery programs in the US. We examined 435 students in collegiate recovery using a national survey of college students. We computed differences between non-system-involved, system-involved with no incarceration history, and formerly incarcerated participants on relevant substance use and recovery-related outcomes. The results provide evidence that there are significant differences between those system-involved and those who are not...

OBJECTIVE: World Health Organization (WHO) risk drinking levels (i.e., low, moderate, high, or very high risk) have been used as a drinking reduction endpoint in clinical trials. Yet, prior work has not attempted to quantify reductions in WHO risk levels among mandated students, who may also benefit from reduced drinking. We sought to validate WHO risk drinking levels in differentiating students' alcohol-related outcomes, depressive symptoms, and academic performance. Defining risk via typical drinks per drinking day versus drinks per day was compared, and gender differences were examined...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Impaired control over alcohol is a hallmark of addiction relevant to young adults but additional prospective findings are needed, particularly in samples reporting heavy drinking. Further, we lack understanding of how attempts and failed efforts to control drinking relate to each other in predicting outcomes. We hypothesized attempted and failed control would prospectively predict outcomes, with endorsement of both being especially problematic. METHODS: We used data from young adults reporting heavy drinking who enrolled in laboratory alcohol self-administration studies ( N =109)...

OBJECTIVE: Prevalence of smoking combustible cigarettes has decreased, but rates of nicotine vaping among adolescents and young adults have increased dramatically. Vaping is associated with acute health problems and exposes users to toxic metals with unknown long-term consequences. Research on factors influencing vaping is needed to inform development of effective prevention and intervention methods. Nicotine vaping expectancies, or expected effects related to vaping, may be an important target as they can predict vaping behaviors...