The Use and Misuse of Prescription Stimulants as “Cognitive Enhancers” by Students at One Academic Health Sciences Center

Bossaer, John B.; Gray, Jeffrey A.; Miller, Stacy; Enck, Gavin G.; Gaddipati, Vamsi C.; Enck, Robert E.

doi:10.1097/acm.0b013e318294fc7b

Cited by 46 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Moderate lifetime prevalence estimates of stimulant misuse have also been reported among undergraduate and graduate health care students (11%), dental and dental hygiene students (12.4%), and general samples including both undergraduate and graduate students (16.2%–17.5%) 50,108–110…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, all types of students (adolescents, adults, and medical) performing worse academically appear to be more likely to engage in nonmedical prescription stimulant use 56,99,101,105. Indeed, this review found that the most commonly reported reasons university students take prescription stimulants are related to academics, and studies suggest that during periods of high academic stress, college students may be more likely to use prescription stimulants, as indicated by self-report measures and by measurements of stimulant levels in campus wastewater samples 49,54,56,105,108,110,113,115…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Bossaer et al108 reported that health care students were split between considering stimulant misuse to be academically dishonest and proffering unfair academic advantages. Similarly, half of the medical students sampled by Emanuel et al107 perceived stimulant misuse to be a problem, but 20% did not.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pharmacological interventions for adolescents and adults with ADHD: stimulant and nonstimulant medications and misuse of prescription stimulants

Weyandt

Oster

Marraccini

et al. 2014

PRBM

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Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that cause functional impairment. Recent research indicates that symptoms persist into adulthood in the majority of cases, with prevalence estimates of approximately 5% in the school age population and 2.5%–4% in the adult population. Although students with ADHD are at greater risk for academic underachievement and psychosocial problems, increasing numbers of students with ADHD are graduating from high school and pursuing higher education. Stimulant medications are considered the first line of pharmacotherapy for individuals with ADHD, including college students. Although preliminary evidence indicates that prescription stimulants are safe and effective for college students with ADHD when used as prescribed, very few controlled studies have been conducted concerning the efficacy of prescription stimulants with college students. In addition, misuse of prescription stimulants has become a serious problem on college campuses across the US and has been recently documented in other countries as well. The purpose of the present systematic review was to investigate the efficacy of prescription stimulants for adolescents and young adults with ADHD and the nonmedical use and misuse of prescription stimulants. Results revealed that both prostimulant and stimulant medications, including lisdexamfetamine dimesylate, methylphenidate, amphetamines, and mixed-amphetamine salts, are effective at reducing ADHD symptoms in adolescents and adults with ADHD. Findings also suggest that individuals with ADHD may have higher rates of stimulant misuse than individuals without the disorder, and characteristics such as sex, race, use of illicit drugs, and academic performance are associated with misuse of stimulant medications. Results also indicate that individuals both with and without ADHD are more likely to misuse short-acting agents than long-acting agents. These findings have implications for intervention, prevention, and future research.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pharmacological interventions for adolescents and adults with ADHD: stimulant and nonstimulant medications and misuse of prescription stimulants

Weyandt

Oster

Marraccini

et al. 2014

PRBM

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show abstract

“…Given the high rates of prescription stimulant misuse among young adults without ADHD who report cognitive and/or academic enhancement as the primary reason for misusing stimulant medication (Advokat, Guidry & Martino, 2008; Bossaer et al, 2013; DeSantis, Webb & Noar, 2008; Garnier-Dykstra et al, 2012; Habibzadeh et al, 2011; Novak, Kroutil, Williams, & Van Brunt, 2007; Rabiner et al, 2009; Teter, McCabe, Cranford, Boyd, & Guthrie, 2005; White et al, 2006; Weyandt et al, 2009), the obvious empirical question is whether prescription stimulants truly enhance the cognitive and/or academic functioning of these individuals or whether they simply believe that they do. This is an especially intriguing question given that grade point average (GPA) has been found to be negatively correlated with stimulant misuse among college students (Benson et al, 2015; Weyandt et al, 2013).…”

Section: Are Prescription Stimulants Truly Neurocognitive Enhancers?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prescription stimulant medication misuse: Where are we and where do we go from here?

Weyandt¹,

Oster²,

Marraccini³

et al. 2016

Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology

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Prescription stimulants, including methylphenidate (e.g., Ritalin) and amphetamine compounds (e.g., dextroamphetamine; Adderall), have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and are classified by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as Schedule II medications due to their high potential for abuse and dependence (DEA, U.S. Department of Justice, 2015). Despite the potential health and judicial consequences, misuse of prescription stimulants, typically defined as taking stimulants without a valid prescription, or use of stimulants other than as prescribed, has become a serious problem in the United States and abroad, especially on college campuses. The purpose of the present paper is to review historical information concerning prescription stimulants and to summarize the literature with respect to misuse among adults, particularly college students, including risk factors, mediators and moderators, and motivations for prescription stimulant misuse. In addition, evidence is presented concerning the question of whether prescription stimulants truly enhance cognitive functioning in individuals with and without ADHD, and the ethical and professional implications of these findings are explored. Lastly, recommendations for addressing prescription stimulant misuse and suggestions for future research are advanced.

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“…Students of a highly competitive UK university deemed the competitive advantage PCE can give as one of the most important concerns regarding its use: an advantage due to PCE use was found most morally wrong when no other competitors were taking the substance, relating competitive to distributive fairness and peer pressure (Scheske and Schnall, 2012). Moreover, an online survey by Bossaer et al (2013) demonstrated that 60% of the 372 student respondents agreed that PCE provides users with an unfair advantage over other students. An almost identical amount of just over half of the respondents (56%) believed that PCE use for study purposes could be seen as academic dishonesty.…”

Section: Fairnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes toward pharmacological cognitive enhancementâ€”a review

Schelle

Faulmüller

Caviola

et al. 2014

Front. Syst. Neurosci.

117

109

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A primary means for the augmentation of cognitive brain functions is “pharmacological cognitive enhancement” (PCE). The term usually refers to the off-label use of medical substances to improve mental performance in healthy individuals. With the final aim to advance the normative debate taking place on that topic, several empirical studies have been conducted to assess the attitudes toward PCE in the public, i.e., in groups outside of the academic debate. In this review, we provide an overview of the 40 empirical studies published so far, reporting both their methodology and results. Overall, we find that several concerns about the use of PCE are prevalent in the public. These concerns largely match those discussed in the normative academic debate. We present our findings structured around the three most common concerns: medical safety, coercion, and fairness. Fairness is divided into three subthemes: equality of opportunity, honesty, and authenticity. Attitudes regarding some concerns are coherent across studies (e.g., coercion), whereas for others we find mixed results (e.g., authenticity). Moreover, we find differences in how specific groups—such as users, nonusers, students, parents, and health care providers—perceive PCE: a coherent finding is that nonusers display more concerns regarding medical safety and fairness than users. We discuss potential psychological explanations for these differences.

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The Use and Misuse of Prescription Stimulants as “Cognitive Enhancers” by Students at One Academic Health Sciences Center

Cited by 46 publications

References 7 publications

Pharmacological interventions for adolescents and adults with ADHD: stimulant and nonstimulant medications and misuse of prescription stimulants

Pharmacological interventions for adolescents and adults with ADHD: stimulant and nonstimulant medications and misuse of prescription stimulants

Prescription stimulant medication misuse: Where are we and where do we go from here?

Attitudes toward pharmacological cognitive enhancementâ€”a review

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