Assessment of prescription stimulant misuse among college students using the MMPI-2-RF

Prescription Stimulant Misuse Among Nursing Students: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

Nonmedical prescription stimulants are used to reduce symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity in children and adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity/disorder. They are Schedule II controlled substances because of their high potential for dependence, and individuals who misuse them without a valid prescription are subject to criminal charges. Stimulant medications are also associated with common side effects (e.g., insomnia) as well as more serious but less common side effects (e.g., arrhythmias). Despite the potential health and legal consequences, misuse of prescription stimulants has become a public health crisis on college campuses in the United States. Neurocognitive enhancement is the primary reason that college students report misusing prescription stimulants, despite no enhancement of cognitive functioning when taken by healthy adults. Nursing students may be at risk for misuse because of their high levels of academic and clinical demands and because many start misusing in nursing school. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, the databases PubMed, Science Direct, EBSCOhost, and Academic OneFile were systematically searched to investigate the (a) percentage of prescription stimulant misuse studies that have included nursing students, (b) prevalence of prescription stimulant misuse among nursing students, (c) motivations for prescription stimulant misuse among nursing students, and (d) demographic factors associated with increased use among nursing students. Results revealed that of the 197 studies conducted within the past decade (2010-2021), only 1.02% (two) included nursing students. Future studies must investigate the prevalence and nature of prescription stimulant misuse among nursing students.

Status of medication literacy and its related factors among undergraduate students in Shanxi Province, China: A cross-sectional study

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE

Medication safety problem has always been the focus of healthcare providers and public health community scholars. As the backbone of the future society, the mastery of college students' knowledge to use medicine will directly affect the level of medication literacy (ML) of the public in the future. The purpose of this study was to investigate the current ML of college students in Shanxi Province and to identify its related factors.

METHODS

A cluster random sampling method was utilized to select 800 college students from 10 universities in Shanxi province as participants from 21 March to 10 April 2020. After quality control, 763 valid questionnaires were collected (effective rate 95.4%). This study applied the ML scale adapted from the 14-item health literacy scale (HLS-14) to estimate ML, which contains functional ML, communicative ML and critical ML dimensions to estimate the ML situation. Then, we used structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the hypothesized relationship among three dimensions of ML, self-evaluated health status and safety medication science popularization activities on campus.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results showed that the reliability and validity of the ML scale were good. The average score of ML level of college students in Shanxi Province was 44 points, and the interquartile range was 40-48 points (full score is 65 points). The proportion of high ML level was estimated at as low as 26.7%. 73.1% participants had an average level, and only 1 participant (0.1%) had a low level of ML. Univariate analysis showed that the ML level was significantly influenced by gender, universities, field of study, academic performance and ethnic group (p < 0.05). SEM showed that functional ML (λ = 0.01) and communicative ML (λ = 0.75) had a direct positive association with critical ML. Meanwhile, the model also had a mediating effect. Functional ML had an indirect positive association with critical ML through the mediating effect of communicative ML (λ = 0.11). In addition, both self-evaluated health status and safety medication science popularization activities on campus had an indirect positive association with critical ML through the mediating effect of functional ML and communicative ML.

WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION

The study revealed that the ML of most college students in Shanxi Province was at the average level. Among them, medical college student (including pharmacy, nursing, public health, preventive medicine, basic medicine and clinical medicine students), the Han nationality students (the students of China's majority ethnic group), students of good self-evaluated health status, and students who were more exposed to safety medication science popularization activities had a relatively higher ML level. Moreover, it highlighted the importance of self-evaluated health status and safety medication science popularization activities on campus to ML.

Outcomes and Predictors of Stimulant Misuse in College Students with and Without ADHD

In recent years, rates of prescription stimulant misuse have increased among young adults ages 18 to 25 along with increases in dispensing rates of these medications. Preliminary studies suggest that college students with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may be more likely to misuse their stimulant medication than their non-ADHD peers. Research is needed to further explore possible rates, correlates, and outcomes of prescription stimulant misuse among college students with and without ADHD. Data regarding study strategies, psychological functioning, stimulant misuse, and GPA were collected from students from universities within the US (N = 144), showing significantly higher rates of misuse among college students with ADHD. With depression and anxiety entered into the predictive model, inattentive symptoms were the only significant predictor of misuse in the full sample. The present findings have implications for academic interventions aimed at supporting the success of college students with and without ADHD and inform academic outcomes of prescription stimulant misuse.

Pre-deployment personality traits predict prescription opioid receipt over 2-year post-deployment period in a longitudinal cohort of deployed National Guard soldiers

BACKGROUND

While military service members are at risk forpain conditions, receipt of prescribed opioids is associated with a range of serious adverse outcomes. The goal of this study is to examine the association between pre-deployment personality traits and receipt of prescription opioids after return from deployment.

METHOD

Data were drawn from the Readiness and Resilience in National Guard Soldiers (RINGS) cohort study, an ongoing study of post-deployment health. Participants (N = 522) completed baseline assessments one month prior to deploying to Iraq (2006-2007). At baseline, we assessed personality traits using abbreviated versions of the Personality Psychopathology Five scales from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2. Follow-up assessments were conducted three months, one year, and two years post-deployment. The primary outcome was total amount of prescribed opioids dispensed from Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient pharmacies in the two-year period following soldiers' return from deployment. Unadjusted and adjusted negative binomial regression models examined the relationships of pre-deployment personality traits, demographics (age, gender, and rank), baseline trauma symptoms, deployment related risk factors (difficult living/working environment, deployment injury, combat exposure), and post-deployment trauma symptoms with post-deployment opioid prescribing.

RESULTS

Disconstraint, negative emotionality, and introversion/low positive emotionality were associated with receipt of more prescribed opioids over the two years after return from deployment. Personality traits measured at baseline remained statistically significantly after adjusting for all eight baseline and deployment risk factors of interest.

CONCLUSIONS

Understanding how pre-deployment personality traits contribute to post-deployment prescription opioid use could inform efforts to improve veterans' health.