Is Greek affiliation a prescription for drug abuse? Examining misuse of prescription stimulants and downers in high school and college

Abstract

Objective: Compared to nonaffiliated students, Greek students engage in higher rates of prescription drug abuse (PDA). We examined PDA among Greek students compared to non-Greek students, and whether PDA in high school predicted joining a Greek organization in college.

Participants: From November to December 2014, 509 undergraduate students at a large, southeastern institution participated in an online survey.

Methods: Stratified random sampling with academic classification as the strata; chi-square analyses were conducted to test study hypotheses.

Results: Greek students were no more likely than non-Greek students to ever engage in overall PDA. However, Greek students were significantly more likely to report abuse of stimulants, but not downers, in college and in high school.

Conclusions: Future research to examine individual types of prescription drugs abused in high school and their affiliation with PDA among Greek students, compared to non-Greek students, in college is warranted.

Keywords:

• College students
• Greek students
• prescription drug abuse

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Mississippi.