A survey study on the associations between misperceptions on substance use by peers and health and academic outcomes in university students in North-West Europe

Abstract

Introduction: The basis of Social Norms Theory is that behavior is infl uenced by the perception of peer behavior. This implies that an overestimation (misperception) of substance use by peers would lead to an increase in personal substance use. It is hypothesized that the misperception of substance use by peers is negatively associated with health and academic performance, and that this association can be explained by an increase in personal substance use. The aim of this study is to investigate the associations of misperception of consumption of tobacco, alcohol, and recreational drugs with health and academic performance, and to test whether or not this association could be explained by substance use in a sample of university students. Methods: Data of 6403 university students in fi ve European countries were gathered through a questionnaire about substance use by themselves and by peers, physical and mental

Illicit substance use among university students from seven European countries: A comparison of personal and perceived peer use and attitudes towards illicit substance use

“…This is consistent with previous US (Martens et al 2006;Perkins 2007) and European studies (Boot et al 2012). In addition, our findings offer a first look at discrepancies between personal and other peer illicit substance use of injunctive norms: 29% of the participating students thought that their peers are more approving towards illicit substances than themselves.…”

Personal and Perceived Peer Use of and Attitudes Toward Alcohol Among University and College Students in Seven EU Countries: Project SNIPE

“…Heavy alcohol use in young adults may result in cognitive and neurological impairments (Hartley et al, 2004;Monti et al, 2005), although these effects may not become permanent if the individual can be encouraged to avoid further episodes of heavy consumption (Mota et al, 2013). Additional consequences of heavy alcohol use in student populations include poor academic performance and antisocial and risky behaviors such as unsafe sexual practices as well as physical and psychological harm (Bergen et al, 2005;Boot et al, 2012;Ham & Hope, 2003). Increased substance use is associated with entry into university or college and the first year of study (Akmatov et al, 2011;Schulenberg & Maggs, 2002), further underlining the importance of addressing problematic use in student populations.…”

Student estimations of peer alcohol consumption: Links between the Social Norms Approach and the Health Promoting University concept

“…Previous research suggests that young adults tend to overestimate drug use including alcohol in their respective peer group (e.g. Boot et al, 2012) and that these incorrect perceptions are predictive of higher rates of personal use (Perkins and Craig, 2003;Johannessen and Glider, 2003;Haines and Barker, 2003;Kilmer at al., 2006;Bewick et al, 2008aBewick et al, 2008b.…”

“…Berkowitz [13] stated in a review that peer influences have a greater impact on individual behaviour than biological, personality, familial, religious, cultural and other influences. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have indicated a similar pattern of overestimation of peer alcohol use and associated increased personal use among European university and college students [6,14-16]. For example, in a study with French students, Franca et al [15] found that 56% of the students overestimated the prevalence of heavy episodic drinking behaviour in their peers.…”