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Abstract
The present study explored the direct and indirect relationship between substance use, specifically alcohol and marijuana use, and academic achievement among college students, using skipping class as a mediator. Online self-administered surveys were distributed to undergraduate students at a mid-size university in the southeast. Individually, both alcohol and marijuana use significantly predicted GPA; as the frequency of students’ reported alcohol and marijuana use increased, GPAs decreased. However, when included in the same model, marijuana use appeared to mediate the relationship between alcohol use and GPA. Additionally, it was found that skipping class partially mediated the relationship between both alcohol use and GPA and marijuana use and GPA. Given the negative relationship that was found between substance use and academic achievement for all students in our sample, we highlight the importance of substance use prevention efforts that target students throughout the entirety of their college careers. We also discuss the limitations of current prevention efforts across college campuses that focus on alcohol use alone. We recommend that prevention efforts include a focus on marijuana use, in addition to alcohol use, especially given our current findings for marijuana use.
Notes
This research was supported in part by a College Research Award from the Radford University College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences.
1 It is important to note that the campus directory only contains contact information for those students who allow their contact information to be included; therefore, not all university student e-mail addresses could be obtained. Further, as the directory is only periodically updated, it is also possible that students listed in the directory were no longer at the university due to graduation, transfer, dismissal, etc.
2 Based upon information retrieved about the population from the university’s fact book, t-tests were conducted which confirmed that the sample is significantly different than the university population. Specifically, females, Whites, older students, upperclassmen, and Greek affiliated students were overrepresented in our sample. Concerns about sample representativeness are addressed in the discussion section.
3 Response rates for alcohol use and marijuana use were 93.1% and 92.7%, respectively. T-tests were conducted to determine whether significant differences existed between those who answered the question and those who did not. Significant differences were found for all variables. Specifically, those who failed to respond were more likely to be non-white, male, younger, an underclassman, have a lower GPA, skip class more frequently and indicate more frequent use of marijuana (if missing alcohol) or alcohol (if missing marijuana). In regards to Greek affiliation, individuals missing alcohol data were less likely to be Greek affiliated, while those missing marijuana data were more likely to be Greek affiliated.