Cognitive Test Anxiety and Cognitive Enhancement: The Influence of Students’ Worries on Their Use of Performance-Enhancing Drugs

Sattler, Sebastian; Wiegel, Constantin

doi:10.3109/10826084.2012.751426

Cited by 54 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…While previous studies have focused on CE as a coping strategy for dealing with excessive academic demands (Sattler et al 2014;Sattler and Wiegel 2013), this study was the first to quantitatively consider CE and its relation to coping styles more generally. Results found that, in both lifestyle and prescription drug groups, greater reported use of dysfunctional coping strategies was associated with a significantly increased likelihood of engagement in CE drug use.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, it may be that cognitive enhancement is a coping strategy to deal with the stress and pressure typically associated with university life (Schelle et al 2015). This is reflected in the literature: CE has been examined extensively as a response to academic-related stress (Ford and Schroeder 2009;Forlini et al 2015;Sattler et al 2014;Sattler and Wiegel 2013;Wolff and Brand 2013). Comparatively little is known, however, about the relationship (if any) between enhancement drug use and coping.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cognitive Enhancement and Coping in an Australian University Student Sample

2017

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Cognitive enhancement (CE) agents are those purported to improve or augment aspects of cognition such as working memory, creativity, and executive function in healthy individuals. CE by university students looking to improve their academic performance, particularly through the use of pharmacological agents (or nootropics), has become an area of increasing interest for researchers. However, studies on the prevalence of, and motivations behind, students' CE use at Australian universities are limited. This study aimed to contribute a new sample of prevalence data, as well as corroborate previous qualitative research that has suggested that emotion-focused and avoidant coping styles may make students more susceptible to utilizing CE drugs. A sample of N=633 individuals was recruited to complete the BCognitive Enhancement and Student Lifestyle Survey^online. The key questions of interest concerned students' enhancement drug usage habits, usage motivations, and coping styles. Analyses found that 6.32% of students indicated lifetime use of prescription CE agents for the purposes of study-related enhancement. Furthermore, dysfunctional coping strategies were associated with an increased likelihood of both lifestyle and prescription CE drug use. Findings from this study refine current understandings of enhancement drug use in Australia and are contextualized in regard to potential avenues for on-campus health interventions and regulatory opportunities. In particular, helping students to maintain manageable stress levels through identifying less harmful coping strategies may prove useful.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive Enhancement and Coping in an Australian University Student Sample

2017

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“…This was shown in two German factorial design online surveys based on a large pool of vignettes with a sample of 1852 students in the first study (Sattler et al, 2013a) and 3486 students and 1402 university teachers in the second study (Sattler et al, 2013b; these are results of the second wave of a biannual project; also see Sattler and Wiegel, 2013 and Dubljević et al, 2013 for findings on the first and second wave, and (Sattler et al, 2014) for other results on the second wave). Moreover, Franke et al (2012a) showed in an extensive paper-and-pencil questionnaire study with a sample of 1547 German students that the majority would consider taking PCE substances only if their safety could be assured.…”

Section: Medical Safetymentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Sattler and Wiegel (2013) provided the first evidence on the influence of the perceived severity of side effects and risk attitudes on actual PCE use. In a large- scale online survey with 5882, in a first wave, and 3486 respondents, in a second wave, a lower proneness to risk and an expectation of more severe drug-related side effects were associated with more PCE use at the first time point and increased use of PCE over a 6-months period.…”

Section: Medical Safetymentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes toward pharmacological cognitive enhancementâ€”a review

Schelle

Faulmüller

Caviola

et al. 2014

Front. Syst. Neurosci.

114

109

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A primary means for the augmentation of cognitive brain functions is “pharmacological cognitive enhancement” (PCE). The term usually refers to the off-label use of medical substances to improve mental performance in healthy individuals. With the final aim to advance the normative debate taking place on that topic, several empirical studies have been conducted to assess the attitudes toward PCE in the public, i.e., in groups outside of the academic debate. In this review, we provide an overview of the 40 empirical studies published so far, reporting both their methodology and results. Overall, we find that several concerns about the use of PCE are prevalent in the public. These concerns largely match those discussed in the normative academic debate. We present our findings structured around the three most common concerns: medical safety, coercion, and fairness. Fairness is divided into three subthemes: equality of opportunity, honesty, and authenticity. Attitudes regarding some concerns are coherent across studies (e.g., coercion), whereas for others we find mixed results (e.g., authenticity). Moreover, we find differences in how specific groups—such as users, nonusers, students, parents, and health care providers—perceive PCE: a coherent finding is that nonusers display more concerns regarding medical safety and fairness than users. We discuss potential psychological explanations for these differences.

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“…In another survey, 23% of physicians in North America were willing to use cognitive enhancers of proven efficacy if they were approved for use and had no severe associated risks [12]. For students, surveys suggest a lifetime prevalence of CE drug use ranging from 3% to 11% in the U.S. [13] and 0.7% to 4.5% in Germany [14], [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Rationale for Consuming Cognitive Enhancement Drugs in University Students and Teachers

et al. 2013

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Cognitive enhancement (CE) is the pharmaceutical augmentation of mental abilities (e.g., learning or memory) without medical necessity. This topic has recently attracted widespread attention in scientific and social circles. However, knowledge regarding the mechanisms that underlie the decision to use CE medication is limited. To analyze these decisions, we used data from two online surveys of randomly sampled university teachers (N = 1,406) and students (N = 3,486). Each respondent evaluated one randomly selected vignette with regard to a hypothetical CE drug. We experimentally varied the characteristics of the drugs among vignettes and distributed them among respondents. In addition, the respondent’s internalization of social norms with respect to CE drug use was measured. Our results revealed that students were more willing to enhance cognitive performance via drugs than university teachers, although the overall willingness was low. The probability of side effects and their strength reduced the willingness to use CE drugs among students and university teachers, whereas higher likelihoods and magnitudes of CE increased this propensity. In addition, the internalized norm against CE drug use influenced decision making: Higher internalization decreased the willingness to use such medications. Students’ internalized norms more strongly affected CE abstinence compared with those of university teachers. Furthermore, internalized norms negatively interacted with the instrumental incentives for taking CE medication. This internalization limited the influence of and deliberation on instrumental incentives. This study is the first to provide empirical evidence regarding the importance of social norms and their influence on rational decision making with regard to CE. We identified previously undiscovered decision-making patterns concerning CE. Thus, this study provides insight into the motivators and inhibitors of CE drug use. These findings have implications for contending with CE behavior by highlighting the magnitude of potential side effects and by informing the debate regarding the ethics of CE use.

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Cognitive Test Anxiety and Cognitive Enhancement: The Influence of Students’ Worries on Their Use of Performance-Enhancing Drugs

Cited by 54 publications

References 72 publications

Cognitive Enhancement and Coping in an Australian University Student Sample

Cognitive Enhancement and Coping in an Australian University Student Sample

Attitudes toward pharmacological cognitive enhancementâ€”a review

The Rationale for Consuming Cognitive Enhancement Drugs in University Students and Teachers

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