Changes in Drug Use Among Belgian Higher Education Students: A Comparison Between 2005, 2009, and 2013

Use and misuse of prescription stimulants by university students: a cross-sectional survey in the french-speaking community of Belgium, 2018

Background

Misuse of prescription stimulants (PS) has been reported among students to enhance academic performance in Flanders (Belgium). However, PS misuse among students in the French-speaking community is unknown. The main purpose of the study was to estimate the prevalence of medical use and misuse of PS by university students in the French-speaking community (Belgium), and to investigate the reasons and sources associated with PS misuse.

Methods

A cross-sectional online survey was performed in 2018. All university students 18 years and older were invited to participate and asked about PS use, including medical (i.e., used for therapeutic purposes) and nonmedical reasons and sources of PS.

Results

In total, 12 144 students participated in the survey (median age = 21 years, 65.5% female). The estimated prevalence of PS use was 6.9% (ever use) and 5.5% (past-year). Among ever users, 34.7% were classified as medical users and 65.3% as misusers. Lifetime prevalence of misuse was estimated at 4.5%. The most common reason for medical use was treatment of attention disorder (85.9%). Reasons for misuse were mainly to improve concentration (76.1%) or to stay awake and study longer (50.7%). Friends or acquaintances inside the student community and general practitioners were the main sources of PS for misuse (41.5% and 23.5%, respectively).

Conclusions

This study found that rates of misuse of PS in French-speaking universities in Belgium were in line with studies conducted in Flanders and Europe. Academic institutions can use these results to tailor their drug prevention campaigns.

Tobacco and cannabis use in college students are predicted by sex-dimorphic interactions between MAOA genotype and child abuse

BACKGROUND

Postsecondary students in Western countries exhibit a high prevalence of cannabis and tobacco use disorders. The etiology of these problems is contributed by several psychosocial factors, including childhood adversity and trauma; however, the mechanisms whereby these environmental determinants predispose to the use of these substances remain elusive, due to our poor knowledge of genetic and biological moderators. Converging evidence points to the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene as a moderator of the effects of lifetime stress on the initiation of substance use.

AIMS

Building on these premises, in this study, we analyzed whether MAOA upstream variable number tandem repeat (uVNTR) alleles interact with child maltreatment history to predict for lifetime cannabis and tobacco consumption.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Five hundred college students (age: 18-25 years) from a large Midwestern University were surveyed for their child maltreatment history (encompassing emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as emotional and physical neglect) and lifetime consumption of cannabis and tobacco. Saliva samples were obtained to determine the MAOA uVNTR genotype of each participant.

RESULTS

In female students, lifetime tobacco and cannabis use was predicted by the interaction of physical and emotional abuse with high-activity MAOA allelic variants; conversely, in males, the interaction of low-activity MAOA alleles and physical abuse was associated with lifetime use of tobacco, but not cannabis.

DISCUSSION

These findings collectively suggest that the vulnerability to smoke tobacco and cannabis is predicted by sex-dimorphic interactions of MAOA gene with childhood abuse.

CONCLUSION

These biosocial underpinnings of tobacco and cannabis use may prove important in the development of novel personalized preventive strategies for substance use disorders in adolescents.

Methamphetamine use and dependence in vulnerable female populations

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The study reviews recent publications on methamphetamine use and dependence women in term of their epidemic, physical health impact, psychosocial impacts, and also in the identified vulnerable issues.

RECENT FINDINGS

Studies of vulnerable populations of women are wide ranging and include sex workers, sexual minorities, homeless, psychiatric patients, suburban women, and pregnant women, in which amphetamine type stimulants (ATSs) are the most commonly reported illicit drug used among them. The prenatal exposure of ATS demonstrated the small for gestational age and low birth weight; however, more research is needed on long-term studies of methamphetamine-exposed children. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is commonly reported by female methamphetamine users as perpetrators and victims. However, statistics and gendered power dynamics suggest that methamphetamine-related IPV indicates a higher chance of femicide. Methamphetamine-abusing women often have unresolved childhood trauma and are introduced to ATS through families or partners.

SUMMARY

Vulnerable populations of women at risk of methamphetamine abuse and dependence. Impacts on their physical and mental health, IPV, and pregnancy have been reported continuing, which guide that empowering and holistic substance abuse are necessary for specific group.