High heavy drinking prevalence persists in students. Recently, drinking motivation received a lot of attention as an important determinant. Enhancement and coping motives are mostly positively related and conformity motives are mostly negatively related with heavy drinking. Relations are less clear for social motives. This study aimed at gaining more insight in the role of drinking motives in heavy drinking students. Overall, 15 897 Belgian university and college students (mean age: 20.7, SD = 2.6) anonymously participated in an online survey. Logistic regressions tested relationships between motives and problematic drinking (>weekly drinking, ≥monthly binge drinking and being at risk for problematic drinking by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test [AUDIT]). Social motives had the highest prevalence, followed by enhancement, coping and conformity motives. Men engaged more in problematic drinking and reported more motives, except for coping. Enhancement, coping and social-motivated students have higher chances for problematic drinking, while the opposite is true for conformity-motivated students. Although this study found a similar ranking of motives as in other studies, a relationship between problematic drinking and all motives, including social motives, was revealed. This might indicate the different functions of social motives in heavy drinking in different cultures/sub-populations and countries. This finding is relevant for the development of interventions.

Studying at university/college is associated with consumption of tobacco, alcohol and recreational drugs. This lifestyle may be associated with moving outside parental control. The aim of this study was to investigate differences between students living with their parents and students living alone or with peers regarding substance use in Belgium (Antwerp) and the Netherlands (Amsterdam). Method. The results of two separate surveys, one in Amsterdam (8,258 students) and one in Antwerp (27,210 students) were compared. Both questionnaires contained items about consumption of tobacco, alcohol and recreational drugs, and whether students considered their consumption as a problem and relevant confounders. Students living with their parents were compared with students living alone or with peers, using multivariate logistic regression analyses, separate for Antwerp and Amsterdam. Results: Consumption of tobacco was associated with living with peers. Similar patterns were shown for consumption of alcohol and recreational drugs. Living with peers rather than living with family or alone was a determinant of problematic substance use as well. Patterns were similar for both universities in two different countries. Conclusions: Students living alone or with peers in Amsterdam and Antwerp may be at risk for problems concerning their consumption of recreational drugs. These findings may have implications for targeted prevention programs.

25BACKGROUND: Binge drinking in higher education is an important problem. To target binge drinking 26 in students it is necessary to study the social context of students. Faculties (i.e., colleges or schools in 27Northern American education) are social contexts in which students behave, but little is known about 28 how the faculty structure relates to monthly binge drinking. In this study, the relationship with 29 student-perceived binge drinking norms at faculty-level are investigated in addition to known 30 personal determinants. 31 METHODS: Data were collected from 7,181 students in 22 faculty-level units, using an anonymous 32 online survey. Multilevel analyses were used to investigate the relationship of both individual-level 33 determinants (e.g., perceived norms, social drinking motives) and student-perceived binge drinking 34 norms at faculty-level on monthly binge drinking.

Background/AimRecent media coverage in the Flemish media in Belgium reinforced the general public opinion on medication use among students, suggesting an alarming magnitude and a rising trend, with the use of stimulants as a specific element for enhancing study performances. These assumptions needed scientific verification, which we intended to do with this study.MethodSecondary data analysis was conducted on four Belgian studies on medication use among students from 1965, 1969, 1993 and 2005. The 2005 survey data are also used to give an insight in prevalence and frequency of use during exams and in other periods and to widen the scope to poly-substance use.Main FindingsAll studies show prevalence figures for stimulant medication use under 10%. Prevalence and frequency of use is highest during exam periods. No gender differences were found for stimulant medication use. Living status on the other hand is an influential factor: students living away from the parental home report higher prevalence rates than students still living in their parents' house. Prescription regulations seem to have a declining impact on the most popular products.Conclusions/DiscussionStudents' medication use, more particularly during exam periods, appears to be an all-time reality in Flanders. No indications for a rising trend were found. Although the extent of stimulant medication use is relatively limited, a small minority shows more risky consumption patterns: daily use of stimulant medication (incl. risky side effects) during exam periods and higher prevalence of poly-substance use. More research is needed, particularly on the most consumed products (e.g. methylphenidates) and on the supplying sources of this medication.

Aims: Given the importance of party people as innovators and early adaptors in the diffusion of substance use, and given the lack of longitudinal scope in studies of the nightlife scene, we explored changes in illicit drug use among young people participating in the nightlife scene in Flanders. Methods: A survey among party people selected at dance events, rock festivals and clubs was held in the summer of 2003 and repeated in 2005, 2007 and 2009. In total, 2,812 respondents filled in a questionnaire on the use of cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine, amphetamines, GHB and ketamine. Results: The results of the multiple logistic regression analyses show that in the group of frequent pub visitors, the predicting probability of cannabis use increased over time, while the gap in drug use between dance music lovers and non-lovers of dance music narrowed. For cocaine use during the last year, an increase was found related to the housing situation (alone or with parents) of respondents. While the odds of using ecstasy decreased over the years, the odds of using GHB increased. Conclusion: We can conclude that monitoring emerging trends, which can be quickly observed in the nightlife scene, provides meaningful information for anticipating possible trends.