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The Relationship Between Demographic Variables and Substance Use in Undergraduates

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Aleksandra Rogowska at University of Opole
Aleksandra Rogowska
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The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between demographic variables and substance use during the last month among undergraduates. A self-administered questionnaire “Students 2004” was distributed among a convenience sample of undergraduates (n = 983; between the ages of 21 and 36) at a large, public university in the south of Poland. The data were analyzed statistically, using chi-squared test, logistic regression, and cluster analysis. The results indicated that excessive alcohol drinking and substance use among students are related to being male, studying social sciences, living in a dorm or apartment, and living in an urban area. Binge drinking is related to gender and living arrangement, whereas illicit drug use is associated with faculty and place of residence. Prevention programmes at universities should be targeted at male students, studying social sciences, living in a dorm, and living in an urban area.
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BRIEF REPORT
The Relationship Between Demographic Variables and
Substance Use in Undergraduates
Aleksandra M. Rogowska
1
#Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between demographic
variables and substance use during the last month among undergraduates. A self-
administered questionnaire BStudents 2004^was distributed among a convenience sample of
undergraduates (n=983; between the ages of 21 and 36) at a large, public university in the
south of Poland. The data were analyzed statistically, using chi-squared test, logistic regres-
sion, and cluster analysis. The results indicated that excessive alcohol drinking and substance
use among students are related to being male, studying social sciences, living in a dorm or
apartment, and living in an urban area. Binge drinking is related to gender and living
arrangement, whereas illicit drug use is associated with faculty and place of residence.
Prevention programmes at universities should be targeted at male students, studying social
sciences, living in a dorm, and living in an urban area.
Keywords Binge drinking .Drug users .Gender.Faculty.Living arrangement .Place of
residence
Excessive alcohol drinking and illegal substance use are health problems that merit a public
health response (Arria et al. 2016; Arria and Jernigan 2017; Davoren et al. 2016; Keith et al.
2015). The data indicate that substance use increases from adolescence to young adulthood
(Dennhardt and Murphy 2013) and significantly expands during study at college and univer-
sity (Arria et al. 2013a;Brandtetal.2014;McCabeetal.2014). However, research on
substance use among university students in Europe is relatively scarce (Helmer et al. 2014;
Wicki et al. 2010), and there is a particular lack of studies on Poland. The present study
concerns the demographic context of substance use among students of a large technical
university in South Poland.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-9931-7
*Aleksandra M. Rogowska
arogowska@uni.opole.pl
1
Institute of Psychology, University of Opole, Plac Staszica 1, 45-052 Opole, Poland
Int J Ment Health Addiction (2019) 17:1550–1563
Published online: 30 April 2018
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
... A research conducted by Cleveland et al. 2018a) on 295 first-year students on multiple campuses on a state-wide university system showed that freshmen living on-campus reported higher rates of alcohol use compared to their peers living at home. Moreover, in cohort study on 4,662 young Swiss men, Bähler and colleagues (2016) reported a strong association between moving from their family of origin and the initiation of monthly risky single-occasion drinking, and in a research on 983 undergraduates attending a single Polish university, Rogowska (2018) showed excessive alcohol drinking among students living in a dorm or an apartment, and living in an urban area. A study conducted by Miller et al. (2016) on 305 students who had violated campus alcohol policy reported that students exhibited significantly lower alcohol consumption during the summer. ...
... The study conducted by Rogowska (2018) in 983 undergraduates revealed excessive substance use among students living in a dormitory or an apartment, and living in an urban area, while living at home showed healthier habits. Moreover, the study conducted by Boot et al. (2010) on 8,258 students in Belgium and 27,210 students in Denmark showed that the consumption of recreational drugs was associated with living with peers. ...
... In particular, literature highlighted that students living with their parents reported fewer unpleasant sexual encounters than those living in shared apartments, and that high alcohol consumption led students who live alone to engage in more unprotected sexual encounters (Boot et al. 2010;Evans-Polce et al. 2017;Hallett et al. 2013;Roemer and Walsh 2014). Moreover, living in a dormitory or living with peers was associated with excessive substance use (Boot et al. 2010;Rogowska 2018). In this regard, lifetime rates of regretted sexual experiences (RSE) for college students is between 29%-71.9%, ...
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Housing has been identified as one of the most important areas related to individual well-being in emerging adults attending a tertiary educational institution. Thus, the purpose of this systematic review is to explore the relationship between students’ housing conditions and students’ psychical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. The review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Outcomes were categorised into 10 categories: 1. homesickness and adaptation to college life; 2. overall health and distress; 3. sleep; 4. depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions; 5. alcohol abuse; 6. substance abuse; 7. tobacco use; 8. internet addiction; 9. eating disorders; and 10. sexual behaviours. Student housing conditions play an important role in a variety of health and health-related problems. These findings underscore the relationship between housing conditions and different facets of students’ mental and physical wellbeing, emphasising the importance of addressing housing conditions in mental health prevention and intervention programmes.
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... Pierwsze ogólnopolskie epidemiologiczne badania ankietowe na temat używania substancji psychoaktywnych przez studentów przeprowadzone na próbie 1545 osób z 71 różnych wyższych uczelni wykazały, że 87% studentów piło alkohol w ostatnim miesiącu, a 49% studentów zgłosiło przynajmniej at 61% vs 39% of women) [12]. More recent research on the sample of 433 students revealed that 95% had drunk alcohol in the last 30 days and 63% of the total sample reported at least one episode of excessive drinking on one occasion in the last month [13,14]. On average, on one typical occasion, students drank about 1 litre of beer, 1-3 glasses of wine or champagne, and/or 3-5 shots of vodka. ...
... Rogowska [14] showed that students' excessive alcohol drinking was frequently related to being male, studying social sciences, living in a dorm or apartment, and coming from an urban area. Gender differences in alcohol drinking indicate that male students are more likely to use alcohol (at a higher frequency and volume), engage in binge drinking more frequently, meet criteria for alcohol use disorder more often and experience more negative alcohol-related incidents than female students [9,12,14,[19][20][21][22][23]. ...
... Rogowska [14] showed that students' excessive alcohol drinking was frequently related to being male, studying social sciences, living in a dorm or apartment, and coming from an urban area. Gender differences in alcohol drinking indicate that male students are more likely to use alcohol (at a higher frequency and volume), engage in binge drinking more frequently, meet criteria for alcohol use disorder more often and experience more negative alcohol-related incidents than female students [9,12,14,[19][20][21][22][23]. ...
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Authors' contribution/Wkład pracy autorów: Study design/Koncepcja badania: A.M. Rogowska; Data collection/Zebranie danych: A.M. Rogowska; Statistical analysis/Analiza statystyczna: A.M. Rogowska; Data interpretation/Interpretacja danych: A.M. Rogowska, Z. Kardasz, B. Zmaczyńska-Witek; Acceptance of final manuscript version/Akceptacja ostatecznej wersji pracy: A.M. Rogowska, Z. Kardasz, B. Zmaczyńska-Witek; Literature search/Przygotowanie literatury: A.M. Rogowska, Z. Kardasz, B. Zmaczyńska-Witek No ghostwriting and guest authorship declared./Nie występują zjawiska ghostwriting i guest authorship. Abstract Introduction: The aim of the study was to examine the frequency and amount of alcohol consumption in relation to students' attitude to alcohol drinking. Material and methods: A sample of 908 second year technical university students (30% of women) of 19 to 36 years of age (M = 21.23; SD = 1.26) participated in this cross-sectional survey using the PBS questionnaire "Students 2004". Results: The results indicated that female students drank significantly less alcohol, and they also had more negative attitudes towards alcohol than male. As expected, those students who drank regularly and excessively declared a significantly lower level of disapproval of behaviours associated with risky drinking, and also they perceived this behaviour as lower risk compared to students who drank occasionally and moderately. According to the assumptions , alcohol drinking was correlated positively
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... The present result is consistent with some other studies that failed to find gender differences in the HB [18,25]. This analysis also confirms alarming observations that PE students do not exhibit expected higher levels of healthy behaviors [6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. This trend is maintained at a later age and, as a result, PE teachers are not seen as perfect models of healthy lifestyles [4,5]. ...
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Research indicates that university students fail to exhibit satisfactory levels of health-oriented behaviors regarding their diets, physical activity, preventive practices, alcohol and drug use, coping with stress, personal relationships and mental health. This study examines the differences in health behaviors between genders and BA majors. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 220 second-year undergraduate students, aged between 19 and 41 (M = 21.98, SD = 2.89), divided into three groups according to their BA majors: Physical Education (PE, n = 88, 40.00%), Technical Engineering (TE, n = 67, 30.46%), and Social Sciences (SS, n = 65, 29.55%). The majority of the subjects were males (n = 147, 66.82%). A paper-and-pencil self-report questionnaire, the Health Behavior Inventory (HBI), which includes four subscales: healthy habits nutrition (HHN), preventive behavior (PB), positive adjustments (PA), and healthy practices (HP) was used for this purpose. The results of the Student's t-test indicates that female university students scored higher than males in the total HBI (p < .001), as well as in the HHN (p < .01) and HP (p < .05) subscales, with a small to medium effect size. However, the two-way ANOVA did not show significant differences between the genders and particular BA majors. Health prevention programs at universities and campuses should be focused on increasing healthy behaviors, particularly in male undergraduate students and those studying Physical Education, expected to model (healthy) lifestyles as future health educators.
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... A survey in South Africa by Seedat and Pillay (2020) on the breakfast consumption of undergraduate students in the School of Health Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa revealed that only a small portion of the respondent eat breakfast daily, concluding that they do not readily practice what they would end up preaching as health workers. While Rogowska (2019) documented that students studying social sciences are more likely to abuse substances than their counterparts in other disciplines, Liu and Alias (2022) discovered that, at 0.05 level of significance, Business students cheat insignificantly more in examinations and assignments than Engineering and IT students, and that both cheat insignificantly more than Education students. ...
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... The results of the Delgado-Lobete et al. (2020) study show that among the demographic factors, only gender has a significant relationship with the degree of drug addiction in students, so Spanish male students are more inclined to drug addiction than girls. The results of three other studies have also reported male gender as a risk factor for drug use (DelaTorre et al., 2019;Lipperman-Kreda et al., 2019;Rogowska, 2019), which is incongruent with the findings of the current study. ...
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... Finally, the content of the clustering algorithm design system for college students' mental health education is improved and realized. [19]. ...
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... The result from Polish undergraduate students indicated higher odds of binge drinking among males, social sciences studying, living in a dorm or apartment, and living in an urban area. 31 The other substance which is a widely used substance among college-age youth is Tobacco. It is used in the form of smoke due to the pleasurable rewarding effect of its active constituent nicotine. ...
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... The result from Polish undergraduate students indicated higher odds of binge drinking among males, social sciences studying, living in a dorm or apartment, and living in an urban area. 31 The other substance which is a widely used substance among college-age youth is Tobacco. It is used in the form of smoke due to the pleasurable rewarding effect of its active constituent nicotine. ...
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Background Although substance use is a known public health problem and a pressing issue in Ethiopia, its real extent and magnitude are not yet properly explored. The current study aimed to determine the extent and predictors of substance use among regular undergraduate students in the Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa University. Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study was carried among 794 undergraduate regular students at the Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa University, using a self-administered structured questionnaire filled by study participants. Data entry, cleaning, and coding were performed by EPI-INFO version 3.5.1. Statistical Package for Social Sciences; AOR: Adjusted odds ratio (SPSS) SPSS version 21 software was used to analyze data by performing descriptive statistics, bivariate, and multivariate analysis. Results 73.7% of the study participants used substances at least once. The lifetime use of each substance includes alcohol (68.2%), khat (53.6%), cigarettes (46.1%), and illicit drugs (23.3%). Loss of family (AOR [95%CI], 34.50 [7.569, 157.263]), pocket money between 500 and 999 Ethiopian birr (AOR [95%CI], 9.978 [1.240, 80.280]), and above 1000 Ethiopian birr (AOR [95%CI], 10.831 [1.333, 87.971]) were identified predictors for khat use. The odds of lifetime alcohol use was higher among students coming from a divorced family (AOR [95%CI], 9.346 [3.162, 27.625]), lost one (AOR [95%CI], 37.406 [11.375, 123.008]), or both of their parents (AOR [95%CI], 18.750 [5.798, 60.633]). Students of urban origin (AOR [95%CI], 3.214 [1.950, 5.296]), and students with anxiety symptoms (AOR [95%CI], 2.655 [1.981, 3.557]) have a higher odds of lifetime cigarette smoking. The lifetime exposure to illicit drugs is higher among students in age groups between 20 and 24 years (AOR [95%CI], 5.963 [1.361, 26.135]), students coming from substance user family (AOR [95%CI], 2.172 [1.161, 4.063]), and students of urban origin (AOR [95%CI], 2.661 [1.202, 5.889]). Conclusion A higher prevalence of substance use requiring administrative and educational interventions was observed. Awareness creation interventions on the potential impacts of substance abuse should be performed.
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... The traditional stereotype of a hedonistic student lifestyle freed from family constraints is related to the high prevalence of unhealthy behaviors [13][14][15]. Studying at college or university is often characterized by high levels of stress and health-risk behaviors [16,17], which include physical inactivity [18,19], smoking [20][21][22], alcohol and substance use [23][24][25], and poor nutrition [26]. These behaviors may contribute to adverse health outcomes, decreased subjective wellbeing, and worsened mental and physical health. ...
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Full-text available
  • Jul 2020
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Couture, M., Stewart, S., Cooper, M., Kuntsche, E., O’Connor, R., Mackinnon, S., & DRINC Team, t. (2017). The DRINC (Drinking Reasons Inter-National Collaboration) project: Rationale and protocol for a cross-national study of drinking motives in undergraduates. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 6(1), 7-18. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v6i1.239Drinking motives are a proximal predictor of alcohol use and misuse through which the effects of more distal influences (e.g., personality) on alcohol-related outcomes are mediated. Although Cooper’s (1994) four-factor drinking-motives model has been well validated in North America, few studies have validated this model in other countries. The aim of the present paper is to describe the rationale, protocol, and methods of a project designed to evaluate the cross-national validity and generalizability of Cooper’s (1994) measure, as modified by Kuntsche and Kuntsche’s Drinking Motives Questionnaire Revised Short Form (DMQ–R SF, 2009), and of the theoretical model (Cooper, Frone, Russell, & Mudar, 1995) linking drinking motives to specific personality risks and alcohol consequences. The project uses data from undergraduates representing 10 nations (Brazil, United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Canada, Hungary, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States; total N = 8,478). Findings from this collaboration can be used to guide international researchers in determining the suitability of the DMQ–R SF as a measure of drinking motives in countries outside of North America and may have implications for the development of preventive and therapeutic interventions for alcohol misuse among young adults globally.
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Article
  • Oct 2017
Purpose: Nurses who abuse substances are a threat to patients, colleagues, society, and themselves. Research indicates that substance use often begins during undergraduate years. The purpose of this research was to identify rates of past year substance use by student nurses. Method: A quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational design was used to examine past year substance use by student nurses and to determine whether substance use is related to age, gender, race, relationship status, ethnicity, country of birth, type of school program, and year in program. The convenience sample of National Student Nurses' Association members yielded 4,033 completed surveys. Students were asked about their past year substance use via Survey Monkey. Responses were analyzed through exploratory data analysis and logistic regression. Results: Binge drinking was reported by 61% of the student nurses; 18% reported using marijuana; 5% reported using illegal drugs, excluding marijuana; 8% reported using nonprescribed stimulants to enhance academic performance; and 10% reported using nonprescribed prescription pills. Students who were younger than 28 years old, White, male, born in this country, or single tended to report more substance misuse than other students. Conclusions: The results suggest that student nurses tend to use fewer drugs than their college counterparts but are slightly more likely to binge drink. Further research is needed on the effect of substance education in the beginning of the nursing program and that continued throughout the program on student nurse substance use. Research on faculty's ability to identify the at-risk student is necessary for early intervention.
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Cross-cultural examination of college drinking culture in Spain, Argentina, and USA: Measurement invariance testing of the College Life Alcohol Salience Scale
Article
  • Sep 2017
  • DRUG ALCOHOL DEPEN
Objective: Perceptions about what is "normal" drinking in college, measured by the College Life Alcohol Salience Scale (CLASS; 15 items), have been robustly associated with elevated levels of problematic alcohol use, yet the role of these beliefs has not been studied outside the U.S. The present work examined measurement invariance of the CLASS across sex, drinker status, and in individuals from three different countries (i.e., U.S., Argentina, Spain). Additional goals were to evaluate differences on the CLASS (i.e., latent mean differences) as a function of sex, drinker status and country and to compare construct validity (i.e., correlations with alcohol variables) across sex and different countries. Method: A large sample of 1841 college students enrolled in universities from the U.S., Spain and Argentina completed, via an online survey, a battery of instruments that assess college alcohol beliefs, drinking motives, alcohol consumption and alcohol-related negative consequences. Results: We found that a shortened 12-item version of the CLASS to be invariant across sex and drinker status, but only metric invariance was found across countries. As expected, men and drinkers showed significantly higher scores on the CLASS than women and non-drinkers, respectively. Bivariate correlations between CLASS scores and drinking outcomes strongly supported criterion-related validity of this measure across multiple countries and sex with differing strengths in relationships with alcohol-related constructs. Conclusions: Taken together, perceptions of the centrality of alcohol to the college experience appear to be an important target for college student alcohol interventions across various cultures and countries, especially for male college student drinkers.
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Addressing College Drinking as a Statewide Public Health Problem: Key Findings From the Maryland Collaborative
Article
  • Jun 2017
  • Health Promot Pract
Excessive drinking among college students is a serious and pervasive public health problem. Although much research attention has focused on developing and evaluating evidence-based practices to address college drinking, adoption has been slow. The Maryland Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking and Related Problems was established in 2012 to bring together a network of institutions of higher education in Maryland to collectively address college drinking by using both individual-level and environmental-level evidence-based approaches. In this article, the authors describe the findings of this multilevel, multicomponent statewide initiative. To date, the Maryland Collaborative has succeeded in providing a forum for colleges to share knowledge and experiences, strengthen existing strategies, and engage in a variety of new activities. Administration of an annual student survey has been useful for guiding interventions as well as evaluating progress toward the Maryland Collaborative’s goal to measurably reduce high-risk drinking and its radiating consequences on student health, safety, and academic performance and on the communities surrounding college campuses. The experiences of the Maryland Collaborative exemplify real-world implementation of evidence-based approaches to reduce this serious public health problem.
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Perceived determinants to alcohol consumption and misuse: A survey of university students
Article
  • May 2017
Aim: Before an attempt is made to develop any population-specific behavioural change programme, it is important to know what the factors that influence behaviours are. The aim of this study was to identify what are the perceived determinants that attribute to young people's choices to both consume and misuse alcohol. Method: Using a descriptive survey design, a web-based questionnaire based on the Theory of Triadic Influence was administered to students aged 18-29 years at one university in Northern Ireland. Results: Out of the total respondents ( n = 595), knowledge scores on alcohol consumption and the health risks associated with heavy episodic drinking were high (92.4%, n = 550). Over half (54.1%, n = 322) cited the Internet as their main source for alcohol-related information. The three most perceived influential factors of inclination to misuse alcohol were strains/conflict within the family home ( M = 2.98, standard deviation ( SD) = 0.18, 98.7%, n = 587), risk taking/curiosity behaviour ( M = 2.97, SD = 0.27, 97.3%, n = 579) and the desire not to be socially alienated ( M = 2.94, SD = 0.33, 96%, n = 571). Females were statistically significantly more likely to be influenced by desire not to be socially alienated than males ( p = .029). Religion and personal reasons were the most commonly cited reasons for not drinking. Conclusion: Future initiatives to reduce alcohol misuse and alcohol-related harms need to focus on changing social normative beliefs and attitudes around alcohol consumption and the family and environmental factors that influence the choice of young adult's alcohol drinking behaviour. Investment in multi-component interventions may be a useful approach.
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