Life goal appraisal and marijuana use among college students

Life Aspirations, Generativity and Compulsive Buying in University Students

The study of goal-oriented behaviour, because of its undeniable repercussions on physical and mental health, is one of the target topics of contemporary research. However, the content of life aspirations, emphasised from the self-determination theory, has received little attention from the field of compulsive buying although it plays an important role in the regulation of behaviour and well-being. Generativity, the personal construct that captures the intentions and/or the need to contribute (leave a legacy) to others, has never been analysed with respect to compulsive buying although it has been the source of interest of related fields (responsible consumption). Accordingly, this study seeks to shed light on the role of both constructs (life aspirations and generativity) in compulsive buying among university students. The sample consisted of 1093 Spanish university students classified either as non-compulsive buyers or compulsive buyers. Estimated prevalence of compulsive buying was 7.9%. The results of Student's test confirm that, besides gender (women report greater propensity to the phenomenon), compulsive buyers score higher and show statistically significant differences with respect to non-compulsive buyers in all extrinsic goals (financial success, image, popularity and conformity) and hedonism. Non-compulsive buyers show significantly higher scores for the intrinsic goals of self-acceptance, affiliation and community feeling and also report a higher generative concern. The logistic regression analysis confirms that being female and the life aspirations of image, popularity and hedonism act as risk factors in compulsive buying in university students while generativity and the importance granted to the intrinsic goals of self-acceptance and affiliation are protective factors. Potential lines of action for this worrying phenomenon are discussed in the light of the findings.

The relationship between substance use, experiential avoidance, and personally meaningful experiences

Background: High rates of substance use among college students have been associated with a wide range of detrimental consequences. Psychological inflexibility, characterized by both experiential avoidance and a disconnection with personally meaningful values, is proposed to contribute to the development and maintenance of substance misuse. Objectives: This study explored the unique contribution of experiential avoidance and four different values dimensions (i.e., importance, consistency, effort, and intrinsic motivation) on substance use and related problems accounting for the known predictors of gender and drinking motives. Method: Zero-inflated regression was used to analyze predictors of substance use and related problems among 233 college students. Results: Controlling for gender and drinking motives, stronger values importance was predictive of lower rates of alcohol use problems. Less behavioral consistency with values predicted marijuana abstinence, less frequent use of marijuana, and less frequent use of illicit drugs. Although there was little evidence for a unique association between experiential avoidance and substance use or substance-related problems in this sample, coping and enhancement motives predicted alcohol use problems and illicit drug use. Conclusion/Importance: These findings offer preliminary support for prevention and intervention efforts aimed at enhancing engagement in values activities and reducing substance use as a form of affect regulation in this population.

The role of goals and alcohol behavior during the transition out of college

Personal goals are desired outcomes that guide behavior (Palfai, Ralston, & Wright, 2011), and are typically oriented around age-appropriate developmental tasks (e.g., college graduation, employment). Goals and their pursuit take on much salience during senior year of college as individuals prepare for the transition into adult roles. This also is a time during which naturalistic changes in alcohol consumption are occurring. These changes may impact the relationship between age-related goals and their attainment, thus compromising the likelihood of a successful transition out of college. The present study examined whether and how changes in drinking over senior year moderate the association between achievement goals and related developmental task attainment as students move toward transitioning out of college. Alcohol-involved college seniors (N = 437; 62.5% female) were assessed via web survey in September of their senior year and again 1 year later (T4). Results of multinomial logistic regression revealed that greater achievement goals were predictive of college graduation (vs. remaining a continuing undergraduate), but only for those whose drinking decreased during senior year. Among those graduated by T4 (n = 307), achievement goals predicted pursuing graduate education (vs. being unemployed), but only for students whose drinking increased during senior year. Thus, achievement goals are important predictors of goal attainment as students prepare to transition out of college, and these goals can interact with drinking in complex ways during this time. Findings suggest that interventions aimed at bolstering personal goals and reducing drinking during senior year may increase the likelihood of successful transitions out of the college environment.

Web-based screening and brief intervention for student marijuana use in a university health center: pilot study to examine the implementation of eCHECKUP TO GO in different contexts

This pilot study sought to test the feasibility of procedures to screen students for marijuana use in Student Health Services (SHS) and test the efficacy of a web-based intervention designed to reduce marijuana use and consequences. Students were asked to participate in voluntary screening of health behaviors upon arrival at SHS. One hundred and twenty-three students who used marijuana at least monthly completed assessments and were randomized to one of four intervention conditions in a 2 (intervention: Marijuana eCHECKUP TO GO vs. control)×2 (site of intervention: on-site vs. off-site) between-groups design. Follow-up assessments were conducted online at 3 and 6 months. Latent growth modeling was used to provide effect size estimates for the influence of intervention on outcomes. One thousand and eighty undergraduate students completed screening. The intervention did not influence marijuana use frequency. However, there was evidence of a small overall intervention effect on marijuana-related consequences and a medium effect in stratified analyses in the on-site condition. Analyses of psychological variables showed that the intervention significantly reduced perceived norms regarding peer marijuana use. These findings demonstrate that it is feasible to identify marijuana users in SHS and deliver an automated web-based intervention to these students in different contexts. Effect size estimates suggest that the intervention has some promise as a means of correcting misperceptions of marijuana use norms and reducing marijuana-related consequences. Future work should test the efficacy of this intervention in a full scale randomized controlled trial.

Systematic review of universal school-based resilience interventions targeting adolescent tobacco, alcohol or illicit drug use: review protocol

INTRODUCTION

Tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use contribute significantly to global rates of morbidity and mortality. Despite evidence suggesting interventions designed to increase adolescent resilience may represent a means of reducing adolescent substance use, and schools providing a key opportunity to implement such interventions, existing systematic reviews assessing the effectiveness of school-based interventions targeting adolescent substance use have not examined this potential.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The aim of the systematic review is to determine whether universal interventions focused on enhancing the resilience of adolescents are effective in reducing adolescent substance use. Eligible studies will: include participants 5-18 years of age; report tobacco use, alcohol consumption or illicit drug use as outcomes; and implement a school-based intervention designed to promote internal (eg, self-esteem) and external (eg, school connectedness) resilience factors. Eligible study designs include randomised controlled trials, cluster randomised controlled trials, staggered enrolment trials, stepped wedged trials, quasi-randomised trials, quasi-experimental trials, time series/interrupted time-series trials, preference trials, regression discontinuity trials and natural experiment studies with a parallel control group. A search strategy including criteria for participants, study design, outcome, setting and intervention will be implemented in various electronic databases and information sources. Two reviewers will independently screen studies to assess eligibility, as well as extract data from, and assess risk of bias of included studies. A third reviewer will resolve any discrepancies. Attempts will be made to quantify trial effects by meta-analysis. Binary outcomes will be pooled and effect size reported using ORs. For continuous data, effect size of trials will be reported using a mean difference where trial outcomes report the same outcome using a consistent measure, or standardised mean difference where trials report a comparable measure. Otherwise, trial outcomes will be described narratively.

DISSEMINATION

Review findings will be disseminated via peer-reviewed journals and conferences.