The meta-analysis, that included 75 studies, examined the relationship between illegal drug consumption, on the one hand, and student academic and behavioral outcomes, on the other, for the middle school to college grade levels. The meta-analysis first (research question #1) addressed whether there is a statistically significant relationship…

Monitoring the Future (MTF) is an ongoing research program conducted at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research under a series of investigator-initiated research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse beginning in 1975. The integrated MTF study includes annual surveys of nationally-representative samples of 8th, 10th,…

Research shows that various pharmaceuticals can offer modest cognition enhancing effects for healthy individuals. These finding have caused some academics to support liberal use of pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE) in schools and universities. This approach partially arises from arguments implying there is little moral justification for…

This study investigated the influence of age of alcohol initiation on current alcohol use and alcohol-related problems in a diverse college student sample. Participants (N = 214) completed a questionnaire assessing attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral habits regarding alcohol and other drugs. Early alcohol initiation (alcohol use before age 15) was…

Whether one knows someone who is thinking of suicide, has attempted suicide, or has completed suicide, nearly all individuals who encounter suicide are affected. The influence and residual affects of suicide are further amplified as the issue reaches across communities such as college or university campuses. College and university staff must…

Content analyzed self-reports from 704 college students and used results to develop Marijuana Effect Expectancy Questionnaire and Cocaine Effect Expectancy Questionnaire. Identified six marijuana expectancies and five cocaine expectancies. Drug effect expectancies distinguished between patterns of nonuse and varying degrees of use of these two…

Students completed California Psychological Inventory, Adjective Check List, and drug-use questionnaire. Continuous nonusers never disclosed marijuana use. Switched nonusers did not disclose marijuana use initially but did so later. Users disclosed marijuana use initially and later. Marijuana use can be predicted by patterns of reported…

Assessed the relative influences of sensation-seeking or tension-reduction motives on drinking behavior. Data indicated a strong positive relationship between sensation seeking and alcohol use, whereas the relationship between anxiety and alcohol use was nonsignificant. The importance of sensation-seeking motives to a comprehensive motivational…

Examined 472 female and male undergraduates' knowledge, attitudes, and personal- and peer-use behaviors regarding drugs and alcohol. Substance use was substantial, with male use consistently exceeding female use. Examination of personal-use behaviors and attitudes revealed that students disapproved of behaviors which they themselves exhibited.…

Surveyed 741 college students to examine the incidence of polydrug use. Results indicated 65 percent of the males and 30 percent of the females reported drinking four or more drinks at a sitting. Widespread use of drugs in combination with alcohol was found. (JAC)

Surveyed college women and men and found that caffeine was consumed by a large proportion of the respondents. Women consumed a larger amount of caffeine and used more substances containing this drug. An increase in caffeine usage with increased psychic stress was observed for women only. (Author)

Self-report data were examined to identify personality-attitudinal items that correlated with polydrug use. Analysis showed that 20 items, when treated as a scale, were reliable, diagnostically accurate, and applicable to either sex. This is an initial step in development of scale for indirect measurement of use of psychotropics. (Author/BEF)

Examined factors related to alcohol and other drug use among over 2,000 fraternity and sorority members. Found similar bases for alcohol and other drug use, including acceptability of inebriation and high school pattern of drinking. There tended to be more drug use among students with lower physical tolerance for alcohol than among those with…

Kruglanski's endogenous-exogenous partition, when applied to reasons given by smokers for smoking cigarettes, distinguishes two types of actions: (1) endogenous reasons implying that the behavior of consuming the cigarette is the goal of the action and the actor is positive toward the behavior, and (2) exogenous reasons implying that the behavior…

Examined female college students' (N=466) drug use, marihuana use in particular. Results indicated that the gap in marihuana usage patterns between females and males has substantially narrowed. Female marihuana users used other drugs quite extensively and had friends who use marihuana. Peer influence was a major factor in drug use. (JAC)