Binge Drinking, Cannabis Co-Consumption and Academic Achievement in First Year University Students in Spain: Academic Adjustment as a Mediator.

María Fernanda Páramo,María Soledad Rodríguez,Fernando Cadaveira,Carolina Tinajero

doi:10.3390/ijerph17020542

María Fernanda Páramo, María Soledad Rodríguez + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020542

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Abstract

Little is known about how binge drinking or the combination of binge drinking and cannabis consumption affect academic achievement in students during the transition to university, or about the mechanisms that mediate this relationship. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between this pattern of alcohol/cannabis consumption and academic achievement, considering academic adjustment as a possible mediator. A total of 258 Spanish, first-year university students (145 females and 113 males), enrolled in undergraduate degree courses, were categorized into three groups on the basis of their patterns of alcohol/cannabis consumption: control, binge drinkers and co-consumers. The findings showed a significant effect of the combined binge drinking/cannabis consumption, but not of binge drinking alone, upon academic achievement and academic adjustment. Grade point average (GPA) and academic adjustment were lower in the co-consumers than in the other groups. Regarding the mediation effect, 34.33% of the impact of combined alcohol/cannabis use on GPA was mediated by academic adjustment. The combined consumption of alcohol and cannabis led to difficulties in adaptation to academic life, which in turn contributed to poorer performance at university. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Highlights

How do binge drinking and the co-consumption of alcohol and cannabis affect academic achievement in students during their transition to university? There is strong evidence that the use of legal and illegal drugs in the university population in Western countries has increased substantially in the last decade [1]
This study provides some preliminary findings and contributes to addressing the lack of knowledge about the impact of binge drinking and of binge drinking in combination with cannabis consumption on academic performance in first year university students in Spain
No evidence was found for an association between binge drinking and either academic performance or academic adjustment, our findings highlight the presence of an association between the co-consumption of alcohol and cannabis and lower Grade point average (GPA) and lower academic adjustment

Summary

Introduction

How do binge drinking and the co-consumption of alcohol and cannabis affect academic achievement in students during their transition to university? There is strong evidence that the use of legal and illegal drugs in the university population in Western countries has increased substantially in the last decade [1]. 0.08 g/dL, at least once in the last 30 days [2] This pattern of consumption is prevalent in first year. Many binge drinkers consume other drugs as well as alcohol [5,6,7], and the most common combination appears to be alcohol and cannabis [8,9,10,11,12,13].

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