H G Pope1, M Ionescu-Pioggia, K W Pope. 1. Biological Psychiatry Laboratory, McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA 02478, USA. pope@mclean.harvard.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The authors examined trends in the prevalence of substance use and its relationship to attributes of life style among college students over a 30-year period. METHOD: They distributed anonymous questionnaires to 796 seniors at a large New England college in 1999, using methods essentially identical to those of their previous studies at the same college in 1969, 1978, and 1989. RESULTS: Most forms of drug use rose to a peak in 1978 then fell over the next 21 years, except for use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine ("ecstasy"). On several variables, college substance users differed more sharply from nonusers in 1999 than in previous decades. CONCLUSIONS: Although the study was limited to students at a single institution, its findings suggest that college drug use is generally declining and that users have increasingly diverged from nonusers in their values and life style.
OBJECTIVE: The authors examined trends in the prevalence of substance use and its relationship to attributes of life style among college students over a 30-year period. METHOD: They distributed anonymous questionnaires to 796 seniors at a large New England college in 1999, using methods essentially identical to those of their previous studies at the same college in 1969, 1978, and 1989. RESULTS: Most forms of drug use rose to a peak in 1978 then fell over the next 21 years, except for use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine ("ecstasy"). On several variables, college substance users differed more sharply from nonusers in 1999 than in previous decades. CONCLUSIONS: Although the study was limited to students at a single institution, its findings suggest that college drug use is generally declining and that users have increasingly diverged from nonusers in their values and life style.
Authors: F Fornai; P Lenzi; G Frenzilli; M Gesi; M Ferrucci; G Lazzeri; F Biagioni; M Nigro; A Falleni; M Giusiani; A Pellegrini; F Blandini; S Ruggieri; A Paparelli Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2003-12-13 Impact factor: 4.530