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. 2022 Oct;36(5):908-914.
doi: 10.1111/fcp.12771. Epub 2022 Mar 4.

Psychoactive substance use among students: A cross-sectional analysis

Justine Perino  1   2   3 , Marie Tournier  2   4 , Clément Mathieu  2 , Louis Letinier  2   3 , Alexandre Peyré  1   3 , Garance Perret  5 , Edwige Pereira  5 , Annie Fourrier-Réglat  2   3 , Clothilde Pollet  5 , Mélina Fatseas  3   6 , Christophe Tzourio  3   5 , Amélie Daveluy  1   2   3
Affiliations

Psychoactive substance use among students: A cross-sectional analysis

Justine Perino et al. Fundam Clin Pharmacol. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Little is known about psychoactive substance use in students, apart from tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis. This study investigated the prevalence of substance use and overlap between various psychoactive substances in students. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 10 066 students included in the i-Share cohort between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2017. The baseline questionnaire was the key source of information. Psychoactive substances of interest (PSI) were cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines, nitrous oxide, poppers, and MDMA. Their patterns of use were categorized as lifetime, past year, and current use. The use of other psychoactive substances including alcohol and tobacco was described in PSI users and non-users. Most participants were female (75%), and their average age was 21 years. Lifetime use of at least one PSI was reported by 65.5% of participants. Cannabis was the most frequently used substance both over lifetime (57% of students) and past year (35%), followed by poppers and nitrous oxide (28% and 26% of students over lifetime, respectively). Among polydrug users (n = 1242), 65% used only nitrous oxide and poppers, showing a strong link between these two substances. Regular alcohol use, binge drinking, and current tobacco use were higher in PSI users than in non-users. Substance use was higher than previously found in both French and European studies in young people. Nitrous oxide use was particularly high. Regular alcohol use, binge drinking, and tobacco use could be used as markers to identify students at risk of PSI use to be targeted by prevention programs.

Keywords: alcohol-related disorders; substance-related disorders; tobacco-related disorders.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Classification of psychoactive substances of interest (PSI) use patterns
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Flowchart of the study
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Prevalence of psychoactive substances of interest (PSI) use in the study sample over life and the past year with ponderation on sex and age (n = 10 066)
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Alcohol and tobacco use patterns in non‐PSI users, only alcohol/tobacco users and PSI users (in percentages)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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