142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Exploring uses and sources of information about nonmedical prescription drugs among university students

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Tanya Piatok-Vaisman , Department of Communication, University of Haifa, haifa, Israel
Aysha Agbarya , Department of Communication, University of Haifa, haifa, Israel
Lourdes Martinez, PhD , Communication, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Nehama Lewis, PhD , Department of Communication, University of Haifa, haifa, Israel
Background: The nonmedical use of prescription drugs is a growing concern worldwide. Nonmedical use of prescription drugs (anti-depressants, drugs to treat anxiety, sleeping pills) may harm young people’s brains and increase the likelihood of engaging in other risk behaviors. The transition to university is a period in which a significant number of young adults initiate nonmedical use of prescription drugs.

Objectives: The study focuses on seeking and scanning related to prescription drugs. The goal is to understand how young adults comprehend information about prescription drugs in an environment in which many are likely to be exposed to more permissive norms and behavior surrounding the non-medical use of these substances.

Methods: The current study uses qualitative data gathered through in-depth interviews among young adults in Israel (N=39), providing understanding of active information seeking efforts (seeking) and passive information acquisition (scanning) for drug-related information. Sources of information included mass media, interpersonal (peers), and the Internet.

Results: The analysis uncovers themes relating to young adults’ cross-source information acquisition, movement across interpersonal and media sources, and motivations for actively seeking information about prescription drugs. Fifteen participants reported actively seeking information about prescription drugs (38%), while 31 participants (79%) reported scanning information. Mass media sources (79%), interpersonal sources (46%), and the Internet (33%) were the most common sources of information consulted about prescription drugs. 

Conclusions: The findings provide important information about how the information environment influences the formation of attitudes about prescription drugs, and how this knowledge might better inform drug prevention efforts.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related education
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe the relationship between information seeking and scanning about prescription drugs to treat anxiety and depression and attitudes of university students. Identify sources of information about prescription drugs and motivations for information seeking. Discuss ways to use drug-related information seeking status as an indicator of future drug use trajectories in the context of nonmedical use of prescription drugs.

Keyword(s): College Students, Prescription Drug Abuse and Misuse

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been an assistant professor of communication at Michigan State University for 3 years where I have been developing a program of research examining drug trajectories during life transitions and the role of information acquisition in shaping these trajectories.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4177.0: Pharmaceutical Drug Abuse - Identifying Special Populations