Relationship between social skills and alcohol consumption

Jelagat

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background: Recreational drug use among students in tertiary institutions remains a public health concern. Despite documentation of drug use in Kenyan universities, most of the studies are based on self reported history which is prone to social desirability bias. It is in this context that we sought to establish actual drug use among university students. Methods: We investigated self reported and confirmed drug use. Using proportionate to size and snowball sampling methods 380 respondents were enrolled. Social demographic characteristics and self reported drug use history were documented using a participant assisted questionnaire. Actual drug use was determined qualitatively using 6 panel plus alcohol SalivaConfirm™ Saliva Test kit. Results: Most (75%) of the participants were sexually active. Based on self reported history, 221 (58%) students reported a life time ever use of drugs while based on saliva testing (193) 51%) tested positive for at least one drug. Alcohol, tobacco products (cotinine), marijuana and amphetamine or khat were the most preferred drugs. The usage was either solely, concurrently or simultaneously. In the multivariate regression model, compared to students with no sexual partner having multiple sexual partners was associated with risk of testing positive for any drug: adjusted risk ratio (aRR) of 2.06 (95% CI 1.26, 3.37). Compared to residence within the university hostel and its environs, residing in town was associated with risk of testing positive for any drug: aRR 1.67 (95%CI 1.16, 2.42). Having one and multiple sexual partners were associated with risk of self-reported drug use: aRR of 1.55 (95% CI 1.05, 2.28) and 2.05 (95% CI 1.28, 3.27) respectively. While compared to residence in university hostel and its environs, residing in town was associated with risk of self-reported drug use: aRR 1.48 (95%CI 1.05, 2.08). Conclusion : Irrespective of the method used to record data alcohol, tobacco products (cotinine), marijuana and amphetamine or khat were the most preferred drugs. The usage was solely, concurrently or simultaneously. Future interventions should focus on continuing students, students’ residence and those who are sexually active. Key words : Self reported drug use; saliva analysis; poly-drug use; and university students

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

Self-reported history and saliva analyses of recreational drug use among students in a public university in Mombasa, Kenya

Jelagat

et al. 2020

Preprint

BioMed Research International

“…This could be attributed to factors like academic-related stress [ 63 ], poor social skills, thus increased vulnerability to peer pressure to use drugs [ 64 ], limited physical activities [ 65 ], and poor quality dating relationships [ 66 ]. All the aforementioned factors combined increase vulnerability to stress and depression which in turn heighten drug use as a form of self-medication.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polydrug Use among Students in a Public University in a Lower Middle‐Income Country

Jelagat,

Budambula,

Ngari

et al. 2023

Recreational drug use among students in tertiary institutions remains a public health concern. Despite documentation of drug use in Kenyan universities, most of the studies are based on self-reported history which is prone to social desirability bias. It is in this context that we sought to establish lifetime and current drug use among university students. The study investigated self-reported and confirmed drug use. Using proportionate to size and snowball sampling methods, 380 respondents were enrolled from three university campuses. Actual drug use was confirmed qualitatively using a 6 panel plus alcohol saliva test kit. The study participants’ median (IQR) age was 22 (20–23) years, and 262 (69%) were male; 328 (86%) were degree-level students, while 127 (33%) were in their fourth year and above. A total of 221 (58%) students reported a lifetime ever use of drugs, while 193 (51%) tested positive for at least one drug. Alcohol, tobacco products (cotinine), marijuana, and amphetamine or khat were the most preferred drugs. The usage was either solely, concurrently, or simultaneously. Having multiple sexual partners compared to students with no sexual partner (adjusted risk ratio (aRR) of 2.33 (95% CI 1.45, 3.76)) and residing in Mishomoroni and Kisauni (aRR 1.50 (95% CI 1.08, 2.09)) were associated with risk of testing positive for any drug. Having one (aRR of 1.54 (95% CI 1.05, 2.26)) and multiple sexual partners (aRR 2.03 (95% CI 1.27, 3.25) and residing in Mishomoroni and Kisauni (aRR 1.48 (95% CI 1.05, 2.08)) were associated with self-reported drug use. One out of two students was currently using drugs. Irrespective of the method used to record data, alcohol, tobacco products, marijuana, and amphetamine or khat were the most preferred drugs. The usage was solely, concurrently, or simultaneously. Future interventions should focus on continuing students, students’ residences, and those who are sexually active.

Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy

“…There are several impacts of alcohol use among young adults, particularly those who are attending university or college, such as reduced learning capability [ 28 ], deprived coping skills [ 29 ], and condensed social skills [ 30 ]. Several studies [ 15 , 21 , 24 ] have reported that different characteristics such as sex, age, living away from home, parental education, household income, and tobacco use, contribute to the prevalence of alcohol use.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with different forms of alcohol use behaviors among college students in Bhutan: a cross-sectional study

Dorji

Srichan

Apidechkul

et al. 2020

Background Alcohol use has impacts on several dimensions of health, including physical health and mental health, particularly in college-age populations. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence and to determine factors associated with alcohol use behaviors among college students in Bhutan. Methods A cross-sectional design was applied to collect data from the participants. A simple random method was used to select the participants from the lists of students who were attending the four selected colleges in Bhutan in the academic year of 2019. A questionnaire was developed, and validity and reliability were verified before use. Descriptive statistics were applied to describe the general characteristics of participants, while logistic regression was used to detect the associations between variables at the significance level of α = 0.05. Results A total of 432 college students were recruited into the study, of whom 62.0% were females. The average age was 20.0 years, 40.7% were the third-year students, and 79.9% lived in college dormitories. The prevalence of current drinking was 51.6% and that of binge drinking was 19.4%. After controlling for all potential confounder factors, three variables were found to be associated with current drinking: students who had low income were more likely to be current drinkers than those who had high income (AOR = 2.59, 95% CI = 1.29–5.21); students who did not use tobacco were more likely to be current drinkers than those students who used tobacco (AOR = 6.99, 95% CI = 2.90–16.81); and students who had close friends who did not use alcohol were more likely to be current drinkers than those who had close friends who used alcohol (AOR = 5.14, 95% CI = 3.04–8.69). Four factors were found to be associated with binge drinking after controlling for all possible confounder factors: students who had high income were more likely to be binge drinkers than those who had low income (AOR = 3.03, 95% CI = 1.72–5.31); students who used tobacco were more likely to be binge drinkers than those students who did not use tobacco (AOR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.35–3.87); students whose parents used alcohol were more likely to be binge drinkers than those students whose parents did not use alcohol (AOR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.02–3.01); and students whose close friends used alcohol were more likely to be binge drinkers than those who had close friends who did not use alcohol (AOR = 2.26, 95% CI = 1.05–4.87). Conclusions There is a high prevalence in alcohol use among the college students in Bhutan. Effective health promotion programs should be implemented by focusing on reducing the alcohol consumption among college students.