Non-medical prescription drug and illicit street drug use among young Swiss men and associated mental health issues

Baggio, Stéphanie; Studer, Joseph; Mohler‐Kuo, Meichun; Daeppen, Jean‐Bernard; Gmel, Gerhard

doi:10.1515/ijamh-2013-0330

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…This prevalence was approximately five times higher than in the general population, even when compared with young students in pre-university courses, and was usually related to a higher risk of suffering from stress. 11 – 13 , 21 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of prescribed psychotropic drugs among medical students and associated factors: a cross-sectional study

et al. 2022

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BACKGROUND: The worldwide prevalences of anxiety and depressive disorders are 3.6% and 4.4%, respectively. Among medical students, many studies have indicated that the prevalences of these mental disorders vary between 19.7% and 47.1%, but there is a lack of information on psychotropic drug usage in this group of students. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of psychotropic drug use, adherence to therapy and main clinical and diagnostic indications relating to psychotropic drug use among medical students. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study at a Brazilian private university in the city of Sorocaba, state of São Paulo. METHODS: Observational analytical cross-sectional study, conducted during the second semester of 2019, through a semi-structured online questionnaire, answered by first to sixth-year medical students. RESULTS: Among the 263 participants (41.7% of the 630 enrolled students), the current prevalence of psychotropic drug usage was 30.4%. This prevalence increased over the course and 90.7% of the drugs were prescribed at regular medical consultations (85.5% by psychiatrists). The main indications for psychotropic drug usage were anxiety (30.0%), depression (22.8%), insomnia (7.2%), panic (5.3%) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (3.8%). Women were more likely to present diagnoses of depression and panic. Most of the participants used antidepressants and had good adherence to medications. Adequate sleep and regular physical activity were identified as protective factors against mental disorders. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of mental disorders among medical students is high, which justifies the use of psychotropic drugs. This study provides valuable information and recommendations for institutional educational actions to improve students’ mental health.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of prescribed psychotropic drugs among medical students and associated factors: a cross-sectional study

et al. 2022

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“…The non-medical use of prescription opioids, sedatives, stimulants and tranquilizers among adolescents and young adults represents a world-wide public health concern [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. The non-medical use of prescription drugs (NUPD) is most prevalent in the United States among young adults aged 18-25, and remains second only to marijuana as the most prevalent form of illicit drug use among adolescents and young adults [4,5,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental course of non‐medical use of prescription drugs from adolescence to adulthood in the United States: national longitudinal data

et al. 2016

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Aims To identify the developmental course of nonmedical use of four separate prescription drug classes (opioids, sedatives, stimulants, and tranquilizers) by examining the general functional growth and related covariates during the transition from adolescence to adulthood in the United States. Design Nationally representative probability samples of high school seniors were followed longitudinally across five waves (waves 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5: modal ages 18, 19/20, 21/22, 23/24, and 25/26 years respectively). Setting Data were collected via self-administered questionnaires to high school seniors and young adults in the United States. Participants The sample consisted of nearly 72,000 individuals in 30 cohorts (high school senior years of 1977–2006) who participated in at least one wave. Measurements Self-reports of annual nonmedical use of prescription opioids, sedatives, stimulants, and tranquilizers. Findings The annual nonmedical use of prescription opioids, sedatives, stimulants, and tranquilizers was highest at wave 1 over the five waves. There was a consistent descending path (linear and quadratic slopes, p < 001) in annual nonmedical use from baseline across all four prescription drug classes (e.g., opioids linear slope = −.043 and opioids quadratic slope = .034, p <.001). While the annual nonmedical use of stimulants declined over time (linear slope = .063, p <.01; quadratic slope = −.133, p <.001), the same decrease was not observed for the annual nonmedical use of prescription opioids, sedatives or tranquilizers when controlling for sociodemographic and substance use behaviors at baseline. The covariates associated with the general functional growth differed across the four prescription drug classes. Conclusions The nonmedical use of prescription opioids, sedatives, stimulants, and tranquilizers appears to peak during late adolescence, suggesting preventive intervention efforts should be initiated in early adolescence. The developmental course of nonmedical use is not the same among all four classes of prescription drugs, suggesting each drug class warrants individual research.

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“…Further, a study by our workgroup revealed that use of cannabis in young men is associated with poor MH, as measured on depression ratings (Baggio et al 2014). However, there continues to be a debate about whether these findings can also be attributable to shared causes and risk factors commonly found in the investigated populations (Hall 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Comparing Mental Health across Distinct Groups of Users of Psychedelics, MDMA, Psychostimulants, and Cannabis

Rougemont-Bücking

Jungaberle

Scheidegger

et al. 2019

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs

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Differences in mental health (MH) of users of distinct psychoactive substances have been shown. Both substance use (SU) and MH in users is influenced by stressful life events. This study compared MH parameters in distinct groups of substance users and evaluated the impact of stress factors on these outcomes. Data stem from the longitudinal Swiss Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF) involving 4,475 young adult men. Distinct groups were created for the past 12 months use of psychedelics, MDMA, psychostimulants, and cannabis. MH measurements (depressive symptoms, overall MH, perceived stress, life satisfaction) were used as outcome variables, while indicators of past family functioning and stressful life events served as covariates. The MH of psychedelics users was not significantly different from the no-drug use group, whereas poorer MH was found in the other SU groups. Observed effects were influenced by the tested stress factors. The absence of association between use of psychedelics and worsening of MH deserves further investigation in male and female samples. Stressful life experiences must be considered when assessing the MH of users of illicit substances. These findings suggest that some men practice SU as selfmedication to cope with life adversity.

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Non-medical prescription drug and illicit street drug use among young Swiss men and associated mental health issues

Cited by 9 publications

References 34 publications

Use of prescribed psychotropic drugs among medical students and associated factors: a cross-sectional study

Use of prescribed psychotropic drugs among medical students and associated factors: a cross-sectional study

Developmental course of non‐medical use of prescription drugs from adolescence to adulthood in the United States: national longitudinal data

Comparing Mental Health across Distinct Groups of Users of Psychedelics, MDMA, Psychostimulants, and Cannabis

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