Abstract
BackgroundSubstance use is a major mental health concern among university students. It may result in behavioral and academic problems, psychiatric disorders, and infectious diseases. Thus, this study investigated the risk and protective factors of substance use among Iranian university students.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study. A number of 7330 students were selected from 30 universities in Iran. The participants completed a researcher-designed questionnaire. It measured life time, previous year and previous month’s substance use, demographic characteristics, and a body of risk and protective factors including, religious beliefs, self-esteem, stress and psychological pressure, sensation seeking, attention seeking, anger and aggression, depression and anxiety, parents’ positive attitude towards substance use, lack of intimacy between family members, plus substance use, smoking cigarettes or hookah, alcohol consumption, and prescribed medications use by their family members, easy access to illegal drugs, peers’ positive attitude towards substance use, peers’ drug use, perceived prevalence of substance use among students, and negative attitude toward university. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression analysis.ResultsParticipants’ anger and aggression, depression and anxiety, participants’ positive attitude towards substances, low level of religious beliefs, peers and family member’s substance use, and parent’s positive attitude towards substance significantly and strongly predicted using cigarette/hookah, alcohol, hard drugs, and prescribed medications. Having a negative attitude toward university significantly predicted using all types of substance (except for prescribed medications). Low self-esteem predicted using cigarette/hookah, and alcohol use. Perceived availability of illegal drugs predicted hard drugs and prescribed medications’ consumption. Finally, peers’ positive attitude toward drugs anticipated cigarette/hookah use.ConclusionPrevention programs are most needed among Iranian students. They should be comprehensive in nature and focus on students’ psychoeducation about substances and their related negative consequences, plus promotion of students’ life skills, and integrate family- and peer-based preventive interventions.
Highlights
Substance use is a major mental health concern among university students
The questionnaire consisted of six separate sections: 1) sociodemographic characteristics; 2) prevalence rate of substance use; 3) individual factors family-related factors (including parents’ positive attitude towards substance use, lack of intimacy between family members, plus substance use, smoking cigarette or hookah, alcohol consumption, and prescribed medications use by the family members (; 5) social/environmental factors; and 6) university-related factors
Students who had a positive attitude toward substance abuse, a negative attitude towards university
Summary
Substance use is a major mental health concern among university students. It may result in behavioral and academic problems, psychiatric disorders, and infectious diseases. The university years of life are accompanied by intense academic pressures, independence and limitation of parental supervision [4]. In this period exposure to illicit drugs increases [5]. Researches on university students of Tehran show a high life time prevalence of hookah (33.9%), cigarette (24%), alcohol (17%), opium (2.3%), and hashish/cannabis use (2.2%) [10,11,12]. These studies show that the commonness of cigarette/hookah, alcohol, hashish, and opium use are 13.2, 8.3, 0.8, and 0.58% among the university students in the past 12 months, respectively [11]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
