College students’ use of compliance-gaining strategies to obtain prescription stimulant medications for illicit use

Abstract

Objective: To examine college students’ illicit use of prescription stimulant medications and compliance-gaining strategies that they would use to obtain a stimulant medication. Design: A questionnaire-based study. Setting: Seven hundred and twenty undergraduate college students at a large, northeastern university in the United States were surveyed. Method: The study received approval from the university’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). Students completed anonymous questionnaires outside of class time. Results: Respondents were more likely to use rationality and promise strategies to gain others’ compliance. No differences in strategy selection for close friends and acquaintances were reported. Illicit prescription stimulant users scored higher in sensation seeking than those who reported no prior illicit stimulant use. Conclusions: A compliance-gaining perspective provided a better understanding of the strategies college students are likely to use to obtain prescription stimulants from those with a legitimate prescription.