Drinking, Cigarette Smoking, and Employment Among American College Freshmen at a Four-Year University

Substance use behaviors among college students in the food service industry

Objective: Food service employment is associated with substance use, risk of substance use disorders and various negative consequences. Previous research has not examined the substance use patterns of students employed in food service positions. Method: During Fall of 2018, 276 undergraduates completed an anonymous online survey regarding current employment status and substance use. Results: Compared to students employed in other positions, students in food service positions reported higher levels of drinking to cope with negative affect, negative urgency, workplace substance use, marijuana use, marijuana-related problems, and motives. Food service employment was also a significant predictor of marijuana use and related consequences. Conclusions: Students in food service positions, relative to other employment positions, report elevated substance use behavior, risk factors, and negative consequences. Food service employment also contributed variance to models accounting for marijuana use and related consequences. Prevention and intervention strategies should be investigated to mitigate risk for this population.

Dietary practices of university students according to the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population: PADu study

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate factors associated with dietary practices in students of a institution of higher education, included in the PADu study: “Anxiety and depression symptoms among university students in Minas Gerais: a longitudinal study”. Methods Cross-sectional study of PADu project baseline with undergraduate first period students, who responded in person to a printed and self-administered questionnaire. Dietary practices were evaluated through a 24 items scale based on recommendations of Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population. Answer choices are four-point Likert scale: “strongly agree”, “agree”, “disagree” and “strongly disagree”. The sum of the items corresponded a score ranging (0-72 points), a high score indicating greater adequacy. The explanatory variables were: sociodemographics (gender, age, knowledge area, skin color, marital status, monthly household income), behaviors (excess alcohol consumption, physical exercise, screen exposure, internet use), health conditions (self-rated health, nutritional status, symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress). Adjusted multiple linear regression model was used to estimate the coefficients and their 95% CI. Results 356 students participated in the study. The average of dietary practices was 34.9±9.3 (0-63) points. Physical exercise practice (β: 3.75; CI: 1.83; 5.67) was associated with higher scores in the eating students score. We observed factors associated with the lowest score greater exposure to screens (β: -0.44; CI: -0.67; -0.13), excessive internet use (β: -3.05; CI: -5.22; -0.88), poor health self-assessment (β: -3.63; CI: -4.97; -1.21), excessive alcohol consumption (β: -2.09; CI: -3.92;-0.26) and stress symptoms (β: -2.81; CI: -4.72; -0.77). Conclusion Most students have inadequate dietary practices associated with internet use, alcohol consumption and stress.

Alcohol Use, Employment, and Arrest: Making Sense of a Convoluted Relationship

The relationships between alcohol use, employment, and arrest are complexed and nuanced. This study examines the possibility of interactions between drinking and employment to evaluate whether the effects of alcohol use and/or employment on offending are contingent upon the other. Data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97) are analyzed using multilevel logistic regressions to examine the possibility of interactions between alcohol use and employment in their impact on offending. Both drinking in general and binge drinking increase the odds of arrest. In contrast, employment reduces the likelihood of arrest. Results from analyses of potential interactions indicate alcohol use and employment interact in their effects on crime. Alcohol use and employment appear to interact such that the effect of alcohol use on arrest depends on how frequently a person works, and the protective effect of employment depends on how often a person consumes alcohol.

Drinking, smoking and type a polydrug behaviours: Psychosocial factors among Portuguese university students

Aim

This paper aims to describe alcohol, tobacco and type A polydrug consumption among university students.

Method

A cross-sectional study was performed. Through a convenience sampling, a total of 338 were included (51.8% male with a mean age of 20.6 years, SD = 3.4). Data was collected using a self-reported questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed by sociodemographic and substance consumption and behaviours variables. Spearman's correlation coefficients were assessed to measure the strength and direction of the association between sociodemographic and substance consumption variables. To evaluate type A polydrug consumption, multivariate logistic regression models were performed.

Results

It was observed significant correlations between tobacco consumption with cannabis and alcohol involvement, and coping, conformity, social, enhancement drinking motives. About alcohol consumption, there were observed relations with students’ social environment, and with enhancement, conformity and social drinking motives. Regarding sociodemographic factors on type A polydrug consumption it was verified that students who have parents and friends who smoke are more likely to polydrug.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that interventions focused on substance consumption may need to address descriptive and injunctive norms, drinking motives and social environment as part of the student’s consumption behaviours.