llicit Drug Use among College Students: The Importance of Knowledge about Drugs, Live at Home and Peer Influence

ABSTRACT

The problem of consumption of illicit psychoactive substances by students in higher education is not new, since it is in this age group that the highest prevalence of consumption of these substances continues to occur. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of illicit drug use among university students and to analyze the predictive factors and patterns of illicit drug use among university students in Portugal. A cross-sectional design and a stratified random sampling method were used (n = 840). A validated self-administered questionnaire was used, consisting of socio-demographic characteristics, information about the patterns of illicit drugs consumption, and knowledge and attitudes toward illicit drugs use. The prevalence of illicit drugs consumption was 22.2%, while overall students had a low level of knowledge and moderate scores when it came to the attitudes toward drug use. Being male, having changed residence after entering higher education, having friends who use illicit drugs and possessing knowledge on drugs increased the likelihood of consuming illicit drugs. The results of the study could help develop strategies to reduce use of illicit drugs in academic settings, giving special attention to the influence of peers and students who changed their residence after entering higher education.

KEYWORDS:

• Higher Education
• attitude
• cannabis
• drug education and prevention
• illicit drugs
• peer influence
• student
• young people

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge all the participants in the study for their contribution.

Authors’ contributions

RA conceived this study, collected the data, designed, carried out statistical analysis and wrote the final version. JP e EB contributed to the interpretation of data for the work and revised the manuscript critically. All authors contributed substantially to the interpretation of data, critical discussion and revision of the manuscript, and approved the final version.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work is funded by National Funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the project [SFRH/BD/120758/2016].