Empirical Profiles of Alcohol and Marijuana Use, Drugged Driving, and Risk Perceptions

Abstract

The present study sought to inform models of risk for drugged driving through empirically identifying patterns of marijuana use, alcohol use, and related driving behaviors. Perceived dangerousness and consequences of drugged driving were evaluated as putative influences on risk patterns. Method: We used latent profi le analysis of survey responses from 897 college students to identify patterns of substance use and drugged driving. We tested the hypotheses that low perceived danger and low perceived likelihood of negative consequences of drugged driving would identify individuals with higher-risk patterns. Results: Findings from the latent profile analysis indicated that a fourprofile model provided the best model fi t. Low-level engagers had low rates of substance use and drugged driving. Alcohol-centric engagers had higher rates of alcohol use but low rates of marijuana/simultaneous use and low rates of driving after substance use. Concurrent engagers had higher rates of marijuana and alcohol use, simultaneous use, and related driving behaviors, but marijuana-centric/simultaneous engagers had the highest rates of marijuana use, co-use, and related driving behaviors. Those with higher perceived danger of driving while high were more likely to be in the low-level, alcohol-centric, or concurrent engagers' profiles; individuals with higher perceived likelihood of consequences of driving while high were more likely to be in the low-level engagers group. Conclusions: Findings suggested that college students' perceived dangerousness of driving after using marijuana had greater influence on drugged driving behaviors than alcohol-related driving risk perceptions. These results support targeting marijuana-impaired driving risk perceptions in young adult intervention programs.

Simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use among underage young adults in the United States

“…High levels of continuity at the population level and stability at the individual level indicate that high school is a key period for the establishment of SAM use and thus of particular relevance for SAM prevention efforts. Consistent with the Arterberry et al (2017) study conducted at one university, our results show significantly higher SAM use among men compared with women; however, in contrast to their findings, the current national-level study shows significantly higher SAM use among White than Black underage young adults (further analyses on past 12-month alcohol or marijuana use not showing significant differences between White and Black respondents). Underage young adults attending college full-time and not residing with parents are at especially elevated risk for SAM use, as is the case with other risky alcohol use behaviors like high-intensity drinking (Patrick and Terry-McElrath, 2017).…”

“…These adult studies show mixed results regarding SAM use likelihood based on sex, race/ethnicity, income, employment, and educational attainment. Among college students, SAM use was more likely for men than women and those with lower college grades, with no differences based on race/ethnicity (Arterberry, et al, 2017). Recognized predictors of young adult overall alcohol use and marijuana use may also be associated with young adult SAM use, such as gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age of initiation, college status, living situation, and employment (Chen et al, 2017; NIAAA, 2005; Patrick and Terry-McElrath, 2017; Richmond-Rakerd et al, 2017; SAMHSA, 2017a, 2017b; Schulenberg et al, 2017; Terry-McElrath et al, 2017).…”

Simultaneous Alcohol and Marijuana Use Among College Students: Patterns, Correlates, Norms, and Consequences

“…Simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use can have more serious negative consequences than using either substance alone (for a review, see Yurasek et al., ). These include driving under the influence and having alcohol‐related accidents (Arterberry et al., ; Chihuri et al., ; Lipperman‐Kreda et al., ; Terry‐McElrath et al., ), cognitive impairment (Mallett et al., ), and substance use disorder symptomatology (Agrawal et al., ; Mallett et al., ; Midanik et al., ; Subbaraman and Kerr, ). The majority of individuals who use alcohol and marijuana engage in SAM use on at least some occasions (Agrawal et al., ; Brière et al., ; Collins et al., ; Midanik et al., ; Pape et al., ; Subbaraman and Kerr, ).…”

“…It is critical to distinguish demographic correlates of SAM use from demographic correlates of alcohol and marijuana use. For example, gender differences in SAM use have been found among college students (Arterberry et al., ) as well as twelfth graders (Collins et al., ; Patrick et al., ), young adults (Patrick et al., ), and adults (Midanik et al., ), indicating that males, compared with females, are more likely to report SAM use. However, studies controlling for frequency of alcohol and marijuana use have found that women report more frequent SAM use (Collins et al., ; Hoffman et al., ; Terry‐McElrath et al., ).…”

“…Inconsistent racial/ethnic group differences in SAM have also been observed. Some studies have found that white, compared with black, youth reports higher SAM use (Patrick et al., ; Terry‐McElrath et al., ), whereas others have found the converse (Arterberry et al., ; Collins et al., ) or no racial/ethnic group differences (Patrick et al., ). The current study fills a gap in the literature by controlling for existing differences in alcohol and marijuana use while examining sociodemographic differences in SAM use among college students.…”