The association between non-medical prescription drug use, depressive symptoms, and suicidality among college students

Zullig, Keith J.; Divin, Amanda L.

doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.02.008

Cited by 167 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 114 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The main limitation of this study was its cross-sectional design, which did not allow a conclusion to be made on whether polydrug use was a cause or a consequence of health, mental, and social problems, as is often the case in these types of studies (47,48). However, C-SURF is a longitudinal study, and future analyses must focus on studying the effect of past drug use on current psychological distress.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concurrent and simultaneous polydrug use among young Swiss males: use patterns and associations of number of substances used with health issues

Baggio¹,

Studer²,

Mohler‐Kuo

et al. 2014

International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Simultaneous polydrug use (SPU) may represent a greater incremental risk factor for human health than concurrent polydrug use (CPU). However, few studies have examined these patterns of use in relation to health issues, particularly with regard to the number of drugs used. Methods: In the present study, we have analyzed data from a representative sample of 5734 young Swiss males from the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors. Exposure to drugs (i.e., alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and 15 other illicit drugs), as well as mental, social and physical factors, were studied through regression analysis. Results: We found that individuals engaging in CPU and SPU followed the known stages of drug use, involving initial experiences with licit drugs (e.g., alcohol and tobacco), followed by use of cannabis and then other illicit drugs. In this regard, two classes of illicit drugs were identified, including first uppers, hallucinogens and sniffed drugs; and then "harder" drugs (ketamine, heroin, and crystal meth), which were only consumed by polydrug users who were already taking numerous drugs. Moreover, we observed an association between the number of drugs used simultaneously and social issues (i.e., social consequences and aggressiveness). In fact, the more often the participants simultaneously used substances, the more likely they were to experience social problems. In contrast, we did not find any relationship between SPU and depression, anxiety, health consequences, or health. Conclusions: We identified some associations with SPU that were independent of CPU. Moreover, we found that the number of concurrently used drugs can be a strong factor associated with mental and physical health, although their simultaneous use may not significantly contribute to this association. Finally, the negative effects related to the use of one substance might be counteracted by the use of an additional substance.

show abstract

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concurrent and simultaneous polydrug use among young Swiss males: use patterns and associations of number of substances used with health issues

Baggio¹,

Studer²,

Mohler‐Kuo

et al. 2014

International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The result was true even for the "hardest" illicit street drugs, including heroin, ketamine or crystal meth. Users think that prescription drugs are safer than illicit street drugs (7,14,16). In relation to this, the results highlighted in this study showed that it was not the case.…”

Section: Main Findingsmentioning

confidence: 44%

“…Finally, the study focused exclusively on young Swiss men and is not representative of the general population. However, sex effects on NMUPD are well documented (3,12,15,16,18,21) and the enrolment procedure in army centers enables a representative sample not exclusively composed of college or high school students.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most critical is that this cross-sectional study did not allow the determination of causality, that is, whether NMUPD is a cause or a consequence of mental health issues This is a common limitation in studies on drug use (5,16,35). For example, antidepressants may be overused by people who are already depressed, so NMUPD may be a consequence of depression and not a cause.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…People also tend to think that prescription drugs are safer than illicit street drugs (7,14,16). However, many studies that looked at the association between NMUPD and mood or personality disorders showed that NMUPD is associated with detrimental effects, such as cognitive deficit and mood disorders (e.g., depression, accidental overdoses, and psychiatric disorders) as well as physical problems (e.g., organ damage), and other substance use disorders (2,12,(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22). These results seemed to be inconsistent with the belief that NMUPD are safer than illicit street drugs and that prescription drugs are not "really drugs" (23).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

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

Baggio

Studer

Mohler‐Kuo³

et al. 2014

International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) is increasing among the general population, particularly among teenagers and young adults. Although prescription drugs are considered safer than illicit street drugs, NMUPD can lead to detrimental consequences. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between drug use (NMUPD on the one side, illicit street drugs on the other side) with mental health issues and then compare these associations. A representative sample of 5719 young Swiss men aged around 20 years filled in a questionnaire as part of the ongoing baseline Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF). Drug use (16 illicit street drugs and 5 NMUPDs, including sleeping pills, sedatives, pain killers, antidepressants, stimulants) and mental health issues (depression, SF12) were assessed. Simple and multiple linear regressions were employed. In simple regressions, all illicit and prescription drugs were associated with poorer mental health. In multiple regressions, most of the NMUPDs, except for stimulants, were significantly associated with poorer mental health and with depression. On the contrary, the only associations that remained significant between illicit street drugs and mental health involved cannabis. NMUPD is of growing concern not only because of its increasing occurrence, but also because of its association with depression and mental health problems, which is stronger than the association observed between these problems and illicit street drug use, excepted for cannabis. Therefore, NMUPD must be considered in screening for substance use prevention purposes.

show abstract

Association Between Nonmedical Use of Prescription Drugs and Suicidal Behavior Among Adolescents

Guo

Deng

et al. 2016

JAMA Pediatr

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The association between non-medical prescription drug use, depressive symptoms, and suicidality among college students

Cited by 167 publications

References 114 publications

Concurrent and simultaneous polydrug use among young Swiss males: use patterns and associations of number of substances used with health issues

Concurrent and simultaneous polydrug use among young Swiss males: use patterns and associations of number of substances used with health issues

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

Association Between Nonmedical Use of Prescription Drugs and Suicidal Behavior Among Adolescents

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About