Abstract
Illicit drug/s use (IDU) among university students is a public health concern. We assessed the associations between socio-demographic, academic, and health and lifestyle characteristics (independent variables) and regular, occasional or never IDU (dependent variables). Data were collected across seven faculties (1177 students) at the University of Turku (Finland) via an online questionnaire. About 1.5% of the sample had regular IDU, 19% occasional IDU, and 79% never IDU. Independent predictors of ever (lifetime) IDU included males [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.82, P = 0.001], not living with parents (AOR 2.59, P < 0.001), singles (AOR 0.51, P < 0.001), lower religiosity (AOR 1.49, P = 0.022), better self-rated general health (AOR 0.41, P = 0.003), higher health awareness (AOR 1.93, P = 0.014), more depressive symptoms (AOR 1.82, P = 0.004), daily smokers (AOR 3.69, P < 0.001), heavy episodic drinking (AOR 2.38, P < 0.001) and possible alcohol dependency (AOR 2.55, P < 0.001). We observed no independent associations between ever IDU with age, study discipline, perceived stress or academic performance. The 20.5% ever IDU is concerning. The compelling independent predictors of ever IDU included not living with parents, lower religiosity, daily smokers, heavy episodic drinking and possible alcohol dependency (AOR range 2.38–3.69). Education and prevention need to emphasize the negative consequences to reinforce abstinence from IDU. Health promotion could focus on beliefs and expectations about IDU and target students at risk for successful efforts.
Highlights
Adulthood is an important time period where habits and behaviors such as substance use or illicit drug/s use (IDU) are often initiated and established [1]
Many disciplines of study were included in the study e.g., adult education, special education, pedagogy, languages, philosophy, law, accounting, finance, economics, marketing, medicine, nursing, dentistry, psychology, biomedicine, bioscience, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, mathematics, geography, history, political or social science, computer science, information technology, and biotechnology
This study has described a range of socio-demographic, academic, and health and lifestyle characteristics of the sample and the lifetime prevalence of IDU among Finnish university students
Summary
Adulthood is an important time period where habits and behaviors such as substance use or illicit drug/s use (IDU) are often initiated and established [1]. The university years symbolize a time of independence and separation from parental supervision, representing occasions to sample psychoactive substances (e.g., tobacco, alcohol, illicit drug/s), and are a period in which IDU frequently increases [2]. In Colorado (USA), about 75% of college students reported lifetime use of marijuana, 65% used marijuana within the last year, 29% had a positive urine screen, and 7% of participants used it daily [3]. 25% of college students had used marijuana within the last month (5% used it daily) [5,6], and among first-year students (17–20 years old), 9.4% had cannabis use disorders [7].
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