This study explores the developmental implications of cognitive enhancement among college students. Data comes from interviews with a purposive sample of licit and illicit users of stimulant medications at a highly selective West Coast University. A semistructured protocol revolved around students’ habits and perceptions relating to stimulant medication use. Key findings identify academic use justifications, diversion pathways, and frames use within a biopsychosocial development model that impacts perceived self-efficacy, suggesting that academic dependence may develop differently between licit/ illicit users.
The study aims to examine how higher education institutions (HEIs) in three countries responded to the challenges of COVID-19 over a six-month period at the outbreak of the global pandemic. Employing document analysis, we examined 732 publicly available communications from 27 HEIs in Canada, China, and the USA. Through theoretical frameworks of crisis management and Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), we explore how HEIs respond to the pandemic and protect campus stakeholders. The study revealed common patterns in communication strategies during different stages of the pandemic that include accepting responsibility, emotional reassurance, and compensating victims. It also revealed key differences across social contexts and environments and distinct leadership styles. Findings offer insight into how HEIs communicated at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic and inform the application of SCCT and crisis management theory to institutional behavior in the context of prolonged and intersecting disasters.
Objective
To identify the prevalence of substance use and mental health problems among veterans and student service members/veterans (SSM/V) returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to New York City’s low-income neighborhoods.
Participants
A sample of 122 veterans attending college and 116 veterans not enrolled recruited using respondent driven sampling.
Methods
Logistic regression analysis of variation in characteristics of those veterans attending college; linear regression examining effects of college attendance on life satisfaction.
Results
Having a traumatic brain injury or disability was positively associated with college attendance. Being married, employed, or in college was predictive of overall life satisfaction. SSM/V were significantly less likely to screen positive for depression or drug use disorder. African American veterans were significantly less likely to attend college than White or Hispanic veterans.
Conclusion
Substance use and some mental health disorders do not preclude inner-city veterans from entering higher education. This study contributes to the sparse literature on African American veterans and SSM/V.
Objective
Prescription drug diversion, the transfer of prescription drugs from lawful to unlawful channels for distribution or use, is a problem in the United States. Despite the pervasiveness of diversion, there are gaps in the literature regarding characteristics of individuals who participate in the illicit trade of prescription drugs. This study examines a range of predictors (e.g., demographics, prescription insurance coverage, perceived risk associated with prescription drug diversion) of membership in three distinct diverter groups: individuals who illicitly acquire prescription drugs, those who redistribute them, and those who engage in both behaviors.
Methods
Data were drawn from a cross-sectional Internet study (
N
= 846) of prescription drug use and diversion patterns in New York City, South Florida, and Washington, D.C.. Participants were classified into diversion categories based on their self-reported involvement in the trade of prescription drugs. Group differences in background characteristics of diverter groups were assessed by Chi-Square tests and followed up with multivariate logistic regressions.
Results
While individuals in all diversion groups were more likely to be younger and have a licit prescription for any of the assessed drugs in the past year than those who did not divert, individuals who both acquire and redistribute are more likely to live in New York City, not have prescription insurance coverage, and perceive fewer legal risks of prescription drug diversion.
Conclusion
Findings suggest that predictive characteristics vary according to diverter group.
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