Food insecurity among college students is an important public health concern that might have implications for academic performance, retention, and graduation rates. Universities that measure food insecurity among their students will be better positioned to advocate for policy changes at state and federal levels regarding college affordability and student financial assistance.

Objectives-To develop a multi-dimensional model that might explain college suicide ideation.Methods-Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 1,249 first-year college students.Results-An estimated 6% wt of first-year students at this university had current suicide ideation. Depressive symptoms, low social support, affective dysregulation, and father-child conflict were each independently associated with suicide ideation. Only 40% wt of individuals with suicide ideation were classified as depressed according to standard criteria. In the group who reported low levels of depressive symptoms, low social support and affective dysregulation were important predictors of suicide ideation. Alcohol use disorder was also independently associated with suicide ideation, while parental conflict was not.Conclusions-Results highlight potential targets for early intervention among college students.

Background Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among college students in the US and is preventable. Approximately 1,100 college students die by suicide each year. This study examined the prevalence and predictors of one-time and persistent suicide ideation, plans, and attempts reported during college. Methods Data were gathered prospectively over four years. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 1,253 first-year college students at one large mid-Atlantic university. Risk factors were measured in Year 1. Results An estimated 12%wt of individuals experienced suicide ideation at some point during college, and of those individuals, 25% had more than one episode of ideation (persistent ideation; 2.6%wt of the overall sample). Ten individuals had a plan or attempt during college (0.9%wt of the sample). Risk factors for persistent suicide ideation included low social support, childhood or adolescent exposure to domestic violence, maternal depression, and high self-reported depressive symptoms. Persistent ideators differed from one-time ideators only by higher levels of depression (p=.027). Persistent ideators were no more likely than one-time ideators to have made a suicide plan or attempt during college (8% vs. 9%, respectively). Limitations Although the sample size is large, only a small percentage of participants had persistent ideation, suicide plans or attempts during college. Conclusion These results have implications for programs aimed at identifying college students at risk for suicide. The accurate identification of college students at-risk for suicide is an important step toward suicide prevention.

Background-Energy drinks are highly caffeinated beverages that are increasingly consumed by young adults. Prior research has established associations between energy drink use and heavier drinking and alcohol-related problems among college students. This study investigated the extent to which energy drink use might pose additional risk for alcohol dependence over and above that from known risk factors.

Objectives-This longitudinal study examined the prevalence and correlates of energy drink use among college students, and investigated its possible prospective associations with subsequent drug use, including nonmedical prescription drug use.Methods-Participants were 1,060 undergraduates from a large, public university who completed three annual interviews, beginning in their first year of college. Use of energy drinks, other caffeinated products, tobacco, alcohol, and other illicit and prescription drugs were assessed, as well as demographic and personality characteristics.Results-Annual weighted prevalence of energy drink use was 22.6% wt and 36.5% wt in the second and third year of college, respectively. Compared to energy drink non-users, energy drink users had heavier alcohol consumption patterns, and were more likely to have used other drugs, both concurrently and in the preceding assessment. Regression analyses revealed that Year 2 energy drink use was significantly associated with Year 3 nonmedical use of prescription stimulants and prescription analgesics, but not with other Year 3 drug use, holding constant demographics, prior drug use, and other factors.Conclusions-A substantial and rapidly-growing proportion of college students use energy drinks. Energy drink users tend to have greater involvement in alcohol and other drug use and higher levels of sensation-seeking, relative to non-users of energy drinks. Prospectively, energy drink use has a unique relationship with nonmedical use of prescription stimulants and analgesics. More research is needed regarding the health risks associated with energy drink use in young adults, including their possible role in the development of substance use problems. KeywordsCollege students; energy drinks; prescription stimulants; longitudinal study; caffeine NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptSince energy drinks were first introduced in the 1990s, the industry has experienced considerable growth with an average annual growth rate of 55% from 2002 to 2006, and annual sales now totaling approximately $5.4 billion (Packaged Facts, 2007). Given that energy drinks are typically marketed to adolescents and young adultse-especially males (Reissig et al., 2009)-it is not surprising that the past-month prevalence of energy drink use among college students is high, with estimates ranging from 39% to 57% (Malinauskas et al., 2007;Miller, 2008b;Oteri et al., 2007). Unfortunately, energy drink consumption has gone largely unnoticed in the scientific literature, but from a public health perspective, it is important to understand the potential impact energy drinks may have on the health and wellbeing of young adults.Only a small number of studies of college students have attempted to identify the correlates of energy drink consumption and describe the patterns of use. A consistent finding is that students who consume energy drinks have higher rates of alcohol and other drug involvement (Miller, 2008a;O'Brien et al., 2008;Oteri et al., 2...

Study Objectives-This study examines nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NPS) among 1,253 first-year college students. Comparisons are made between non-users, nonmedical users, and medical users of prescription stimulants for ADHD (ADHD+), some of whom overused their medication.Design-Cross-sectional study. Setting-Large public university in the mid-Atlantic region.Subjects-Twelve hundred fifty three college students. Measurements and MainResults-Of 1,208 students who were not using prescription stimulants medically for ADHD (ADHD-), 18.0% (n = 218) engaged in NPS. Among 45 ADHD+ students, 26.7% (n = 12) overused their ADHD medication at least once in their lifetime, and 15.6% (n = 7) nonmedically used someone else's prescription stimulants at least once in their lifetime. Among nonmedical users, NPS was infrequent and mainly associated with studying, although 15.6% used prescription stimulants to party or to get high. Lifetime NPS was associated with past-year other drug use. Both NPS and overuse of prescribed stimulants for ADHD were independently associated with past-year use of five drugs, holding constant sociodemographic characteristics. NPS was also associated with alcohol and marijuana dependence.Conclusions-Physicians should be vigilant for possible overuse and/or diversion of prescription stimulants among ADHD+ patients attending college, as well as the co-occurrence of illicit drug use with NPS. Initiation of comprehensive drug prevention activities that involve parents as well as colleges is encouraged to raise awareness of NPS and its association with illicit drug use. KeywordsCollege students; nonmedical use of prescription stimulants; ADHD; polydrug use; drug dependence Several medications are used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including different formulations of methylphenidate (e.g., Concerta ® (methylphenidate extended release; ALZA Corporation, Mountain View, CA)), Ritalin ® Address reprint requests to Amelia M. Arria, PhD, Deputy Director of Research, Center for Substance Abuse Research, 4321 Hartwick Rd, Suite 501, College Park, MD, 20740, tel: 301-405-9795, fax: 301-403-8342, email address: aarria@cesar.umd.edu. Poster presented at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, Scottsdale, AZ, June [17][18][19][20][21][22] 2006 NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptPharmacotherapy. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 July 21. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript (methylphenidate; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, NJ)) and mixtures of amphetamine salts (e.g., Adderall ® (amphetamine-dextroamphetamine; Shire, Wayne, PA)).1 These medications are very effective in reducing symptoms of ADHD.2 -8 During the past several years, much attention has focused on the nonmedical use of these medications, as well as other forms of prescription drugs. The general definition of nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NPS) developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administratio...

Underage drinking and drug use among college students are major public health concerns, yet few studies have examined these behaviors and their associated risk factors and consequences prospectively. This paper describes the sampling and recruitment methods of a longitudinal study of 1,253 college students at a large, mid-Atlantic university. Incoming first-year students were screened during the unique window between high school and college in order to oversample drug users for longitudinal follow-up. Intensive recruitment strategies yielded a 95% cumulative response rate in annual interviews and semi-annual surveys. We report preliminary results on exposure opportunity, lifetime prevalence, initiation, continuation, and cessation of substance use for alcohol, tobacco, and ten illicit and prescription drugs during the first two years of college. Findings suggest that while some substance use represents a continuation of patterns initiated in high school, exposure opportunity and initiation of substance use frequently occur in college. Implications for prevention and early intervention are discussed. Keywords NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript IntroductionUnderage drinking and illicit substance use among college students are major public health concerns. Annually, at least 1,400 deaths are attributable to alcohol use on college campuses (1). High-risk drinking among young adults is associated with sexual assault, destruction of property, academic problems, accidental injury, and several adverse health consequences (2-5). Binge drinking and illicit drug use often co-occur (2,6-10), but in contrast to longitudinal studies of alcohol consumption (11), surprisingly few longitudinal prospective studies have examined patterns, correlates, and consequences of illicit drug use among college students. Little information is available on the patterns of initiation and cessation during college-that is, it is not known how often drug use is initiated after coming to college versus continuing a pattern that began in high school, and how often a pattern of regular drug use resolves among college students. Moreover, a majority of the conceptual models used to explain the onset and course of early drug use were developed from studying samples of adolescents, many of whom were deviant and disadvantaged (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). Although the application of these models to samples of educated, academically-achieving youths might be appropriate, other risk factors and consequences might be needed to fully describe the natural history and course of drug use and other health risk behaviors during this unique developmental window. For example, an important potential outcome of drug use among college students might be diminished expectations regarding career goals or difficulty establishing autonomy.This paper describes results from the College Life Study (CLS), funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse in October 2003 to address critical gaps in our knowledge base concerning the longi...

This study reports the prevalence of cannabis use disorders (CUD) and other cannabis-related problems in a large cohort (n=1253) of first-year college students, 17 to 20 years old, at one large public university in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Interviewers assessed past-year cannabis use, other drug use, and cannabis-related problems (including DSM-IV criteria for CUD). The prevalence of CUD was 9.4%(wt) among all first-year students and 24.6% among past-year cannabis users (n=739). Of those endorsing any CUD criteria, 33.8% could be classified as diagnostic orphans. Among 474 "at-risk" cannabis users (>or= 5 times in the past year), concentration problems (40.1%), driving while high (18.6%) and missing class (13.9%) were among the most prevalent cannabis-related problems, even among those who endorsed no CUD criteria. Placing oneself at risk for physical injury was also commonly reported (24.3%). A significant proportion of cannabis-using college students meet diagnostic criteria for disorder. Even in the absence of disorder, users appear to be at risk for potentially serious cannabis-related problems. Implications for prevention, service delivery, and future research are discussed.