Robert C Dempsey1,2, John McAlaney3, Stefanie M Helmer4, Claudia R Pischke4, Yildiz Akvardar5, Bridgette M Bewick6, Helen J Fawkner7, Francisco Guillen-Grima8, Christiane Stock9, Bart Vriesacker10, Guido Van Hal10, Ferdinand Salonna11, Ondrej Kalina12, Olga Orosova12, Rafael T Mikolajczyk13. 1. Division of Psychology, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. 2. Centre for Health Psychology & Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research, School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. 3. Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, Dorset, United Kingdom. 4. Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology (BIPS), Bremen, Germany. 5. Department of Psychiatry, Marmara University Medical School, Istanbul, Turkey. 6. Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom. 7. School of Social, Psychological & Communication Sciences, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom. 8. Department of Health Sciences, Public University of Navarra, Navarra, Spain. 9. Unit for Health Promotion Research, University of Southern Denmark, Esbjerg, Denmark. 10. Medical Sociology and Health Policy, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. 11. Institute of Active Lifestyle, Palacky University of Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic. 12. Department of Educational Psychology and Health Psychology, PJ Safarik University in Košice, Košice, Slovakia. 13. Department of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Perceptions of peer behavior and attitudes exert considerable social pressure on young adults to use substances. This study investigated whether European students perceive their peers' cannabis use and approval of cannabis use to be higher than their own personal behaviors and attitudes, and whether estimations of peer use and attitudes are associated with personal use and attitudes. METHOD: University students (n = 4,131) from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom completed an online survey as part of the Social Norms Intervention for Polysubstance usE in students (SNIPE) Project, a feasibility study of a web-based normative feedback intervention for substance use. The survey assessed students' (a) personal substance use and attitudes and (b) perceptions of their peers' cannabis use (descriptive norms) and attitudes (injunctive norms). RESULTS: Although most respondents (92%) did not personally use cannabis in the past 2 months, the majority of students thought that the majority of their peers were using cannabis and that their peers had more permissive attitudes toward cannabis than they did. When we controlled for students' age, sex, study year, and religious beliefs, perceived peer descriptive norms were associated with personal cannabis use (odds ratio [OR] = 1.42; 95% CI [1.22, 1.64]) and perceived injunctive norms were associated with personal attitudes toward cannabis use (OR = 1.46; 95% CI [1.09, 1.94]). CONCLUSIONS: European students appear to possess similar discrepancies between personal and perceived peer norms for cannabis use and attitudes as found in North American students. Interventions that address such discrepancies may be effective in reducing cannabis use.
OBJECTIVE: Perceptions of peer behavior and attitudes exert considerable social pressure on young adults to use substances. This study investigated whether European students perceive their peers' cannabis use and approval of cannabis use to be higher than their own personal behaviors and attitudes, and whether estimations of peer use and attitudes are associated with personal use and attitudes. METHOD: University students (n = 4,131) from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom completed an online survey as part of the Social Norms Intervention for Polysubstance usE in students (SNIPE) Project, a feasibility study of a web-based normative feedback intervention for substance use. The survey assessed students' (a) personal substance use and attitudes and (b) perceptions of their peers' cannabis use (descriptive norms) and attitudes (injunctive norms). RESULTS: Although most respondents (92%) did not personally use cannabis in the past 2 months, the majority of students thought that the majority of their peers were using cannabis and that their peers had more permissive attitudes toward cannabis than they did. When we controlled for students' age, sex, study year, and religious beliefs, perceived peer descriptive norms were associated with personal cannabis use (odds ratio [OR] = 1.42; 95% CI [1.22, 1.64]) and perceived injunctive norms were associated with personal attitudes toward cannabis use (OR = 1.46; 95% CI [1.09, 1.94]). CONCLUSIONS: European students appear to possess similar discrepancies between personal and perceived peer norms for cannabis use and attitudes as found in North American students. Interventions that address such discrepancies may be effective in reducing cannabis use.
Authors: Jessica M Perkins; Bernard Kakuhikire; Charles Baguma; Justin D Rasmussen; Emily N Satinsky; Allen Kiconco; Justus Kananura; Carolyn M Audet; Mark J Siedner; Jessica E Haberer; David R Bangsberg; Alexander C Tsai Journal: AIDS Behav Date: 2022-01-16
Authors: Stefanie M Helmer; Gregor Burkhart; João Matias; Christoph Buck; Feline Engling Cardoso; Julian Vicente Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-02-10 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: C R Pischke; S M Helmer; H Pohlabeln; S Muellmann; S Schneider; R Reintjes; A Schmidt-Pokrzywniak; M Girbig; A Krämer; A Icks; U Walter; H Zeeb Journal: Front Public Health Date: 2021-05-14
Authors: Jessica M Perkins; Bernard Kakuhikire; Charles Baguma; Jordan Jurinsky; Justin D Rasmussen; Emily N Satinsky; Elizabeth Namara; Phionah Ahereza; Viola Kyokunda; H Wesley Perkins; Judith A Hahn; David R Bangsberg; Alexander C Tsai Journal: Addiction Date: 2021-07-12 Impact factor: 6.526