Substance Use among Students: Examining the Effects of Psychological Problems and the Five Dimensions of Personality Traits

ABSTRACT

The primary purpose of this study was to examine substance use among university students to identify factors that influence the use and abuse of substances. Specifically, we explored the influence of psychological and personality traits on students’ use of substances. Two research questions guided this study: do psychological problems increase an individual’s risk of using substances such as drugs and alcohol? and do personality traits increase the risk of using substances? To address these questions, we obtained data from students attending one of the largest public universities in the Southern region of the United States. Using multivariate analytical strategies, the study made several important observations. First, drug use and alcohol use were less frequent among the study sample. Second, both psychological issues and personality traits predicted students’ drug and alcohol use, though the specific effects vary slightly. Policy implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ This included respondents that were either divorced, separated, or had never married.

² A psychological problem is a condition that a person experiences which is characterized by abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. An example of this problem include depression, anxiety and loss of appetite.

³ Race was originally measured as a categorical variable with five categories: White – Not Hispanic, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian or Pacific Islander, and other races. However, since there were very few respondents for each of the nonwhite categories, we decided to combine the four nonwhite races into one category and compare them to the white sample. Hence, race was dichotomously measured as nonwhite vs. white, for the analysis.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Francis D. Boateng

Dr. Francis D. Boateng is an assistant professor of criminal justice in the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Boateng received his master’s and PhD degrees in criminal justice and criminology from Washington State University. He specializes in policing and comparative criminology but also conducts research in victimology, terrorism, and immigration. Dr. Boateng has published several peer-review articles in top criminal justice, criminology and social science journals. In addition, he has co-authored two books on terrorism, national security, and immigration, with the latest publication in 2020 titled “National Security and Policy in America: Immigrants, Crime, and the Securitization of the Border”. Dr. Boateng is a fellow at the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies and a Research fellow at the Mississippi Crime and Justice Research Unit.

Michael K. Dzordzormenyoh

Michael K. Dzordzormenyoh is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Black Studies Research (CBSR) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research focuses on social justice issues by examining the intersection of leadership, policy formulation, policy administration and how that affects minorities in the United States and beyond.

Nana S. Adjekum-Boateng

Nana S. Adjekum-Boateng is an industrial psychologist and an adjunct instructor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies, University of Mississippi. She obtained an MA in industrial psychology from the University of Charles-de-Gaulle, Lille 3–France. Her main research interests include psychological risks at work—stress and burnout—social climate, satisfaction at work, and quantitative research.

Isaac Nortey Darko

Isaac Nortey Darko, is an assistant professor at Burman University and holds a PhD from the University of Toronto, Canada.  A teacher, researcher and activist, Isaac spends most of his time –academic and professional, teaching and engaging conversations around equity, race, indigenous knowledge, spirituality, education/schooling, environmental sustainability, health, governance, and information communication technology. He occasionally speaks at African-Canadian community events where he raises consciousness on parental, educational and cultural challenges that African immigrants, especially parents do face in Canada. He also shares his academic life as quest speaker and lecturer in universities around Africa.