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Predictors of Prescription Drug Misuse among College Students
Increasing misuse of prescription drugs has been well documented and the effects of misuse continue to have considerable negative impact to the public health of communities. Given the relative freedom of college students, this population is at greater risk for prescription stimulant, opiate and benzodiazepine misuse.
Methods:
An anonymous online survey was completed by 8,401 undergraduate and graduate students at a large midwestern university. Participation in the survey was incentivized. Along with descriptive statistics, binomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine variables predicting prescription stimulant, opiate and benzodiazepine misuse.
Results:
Compared to white students, black students were significantly less likely to report misuse of prescription stimulant (logit = -1.58, p = .000), opiate (logit = -1.21, p = .000) and benzodiazepine (logit = -1.103, p = .000) drug misuse. Other variables predicting prescription stimulant, opiate and benzodiazepine drug misuse included binge drinking in the past two weeks, drinking/driving in the past year, and past 30-day marijuana or MDMA use. Younger students were more likely to report misuse of prescription stimulant drugs (logit = -.049, p = .000), but older students were more likely to report misuse of prescription opiate (logit = .022, p = .000) and benzodiazepine (logit = .019, p = 002) drugs. Compared to heterosexual students, bisexual students were more likely to report misuse of prescription opiate (logit = .651, p = .000) and benzodiazepine (logit = .703, p = .000) drugs. Homosexual (logit = .644, p = .002) and transsexual (logit = 1.69, p = .003) students were significantly more likely to report misuse of benzodiazepines.
Conclusions: Results suggest that individual characteristics impact the likelihood to misuse prescription drugs. Prevention and intervention programming may be more effective if tailored to the specific characteristics of the population or to the category of prescription drug being misused.
Learning Areas:
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programsPublic health or related research
Learning Objectives:
Describe predictors of prescription stimulant, opiate and benzodiazepine misuse among college students
Keyword(s): Drug Abuse, Drug Abuse Prevention and Safety
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been an assistant professor at Kent State University since 2011. I have over 15 years of experience as a researcher and practitioner in the field of substance abuse in both academic and nonprofit settings. I have authored or co-authored articles on the topic of substance abuse and behavior change.
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.