Methods: An online survey containing questions regarding prescription drug use was completed by 75 students from a Northeastern university.
Results: 24% of participants reported lifetime use, 8% past year use, and 2% past month use. Characteristics of past year users included having a GPA of B or C, working 10-30 hours a week, being Greek, living on campus, being White, having senior academic standing, and being in a relationship but not living together. Among past year users, the most highly endorsed motives were related to self-medication (e.g. to feel normal, to relax, calm down, or decrease anxiety, to deal with physical pain, to improve sleep) and/or recreational purposes (e.g. to experiment, to get high or feel drunk/intoxicated, to have fun).
Discussion/Conclusion: Because the PPKs that are most efficacious in relieving pain are also the ones with the highest abuse potential, it is almost impossible to separate the risk of abuse from therapeutic effects. However motives provide important information about why students choose NMPPKU. Students motivated by self-medication may face different consequences and require a different approach to prevention/treatment than those motivated by recreation. Thus by identifying/knowing user characteristics and motives for NMPPKU, health educators can now potentially identify students at-risk for NMPPKU and develop/implement more effective programs specifically addressing motives for use.
See more of: AAHE Research Coordinating Board