Amelia M. Arria

PsychiatryOnline.org is the platform for all American Psychiatric Association Publishing journals, DSM, and bestselling textbooks, as well as APA Practice Guidelines, and continuing medical education.

PsychiatryOnline.org is the platform for all American Psychiatric Association Publishing journals, DSM, and bestselling textbooks, as well as APA Practice Guidelines, and continuing medical education.

Background: Substance use among college students has negative academic and health outcomes. Identifying substances that are more commonly used by students than non-students can reveal specific risks in the college environment. Objectives: To examine associations between college enrollment and prevalence and trends of use of a comprehensive list of substances. Methods: The sample included 2015-2019 participants in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health who were aged 18 to 22 and who were full-time enrolled or not enrolled in college. Prevalence of substance use was calculated for four subgroups: college males (n = 6,707), college females (n = 8,284), non-college males (n = 10,019), and non-college females (n = 9,266). Multivariate logistic regression was used to model the relationships between enrollment and substance use. Temporal trends in substance use prevalence were calculated for each subgroup. Results: College enrollment was associated with prescription stimulant misuse (aOR 1.50, 95% CI: 1.35-1.67), alcohol use (aOR 1.36, 95% CI: 1.27-1.47), and binge drinking (aOR 1.22, 95% CI: 1.15-1.30). From 2015 to 2019, the only substance whose use significantly increased among any subgroup was cannabis. The increase occurred among females only (+4.7% in college females and +5.6% in non-college females; both p < .01). Conclusions: College enrollment is most strongly associated with prescription stimulant misuse, suggesting that colleges should consider explicitly including stimulant misuse prevention in their health promotion strategies. The increasing use of cannabis among females warrants clinicians' attention to routine screening for use and provision of information about the mental health impacts of cannabis.

Academic assistance professionals work with college students to address barriers to academic success, although few assessment tools exist. This feasibility study examined the results of implementing a computerized tool for academic assistance professionals to help students. The Measure of Obstacles to Succeeding Academically in College (MOSAIC) is a 31-item risk assessment tool used to characterize academic barriers. It utilizes a tailored computer algorithm on a mobile device to match students with resources to address academic barriers. The MOSAIC was customized and administered at seven universities around the United States. Student responses were analyzed in Microsoft Excel. Academic assistance professionals were asked about implementation in unstructured interviews. Stress and study skill concerns were the most reported barriers. The MOSAIC was well received, especially among students experiencing academic difficulties, but integration into routine workflow was an obstacle to sustained implementation. The MOSAIC holds promise in addressing issues impeding academic success.

Objective: This study describes beliefs held by college students about cannabis use and examines the association between three specific cannabis beliefs and likelihood of use. Participants: 3,720 undergraduate students ages 18 to 25 attending ten colleges in one state. Methods: Data were gathered via online survey. Results: The majority (80%) of the sample was unsure or believed that cannabis was an effective way to reduce stress; 67% were unsure or believed that cannabis was not related to an increased risk for mental health problems; and 62% were unsure or believed that students who use cannabis are not more academically disengaged. Holding these beliefs, which are not supported by scientific evidence, was associated with a greater likelihood of cannabis use, even after statistically adjusting for covariates. Conclusions: These findings suggest that beliefs unsupported by scientific evidence are widespread among college students. Dispelling misinformation about cannabis might hold promise for reducing use.

Excessive alcohol consumption is responsible for more than 1,500 deaths annually among college students, of whom more than one in three report having been drunk during the past 30 days. Campus alcohol policies offer a first line of defense against excessive alcohol use but have received little systematic attention in the research literature. The research team previously developed a taxonomy of campus alcohol policies and sanctions, ranked in order of effectiveness, and assessed the accessibility, clarity, and effectiveness of policies at 15 post-secondary educational institutions. Herein we describe the process of reporting those assessments back to the 15 institutions, providing them with recommendations and technical assistance on how to improve their policies, and then re-assessing school alcohol policies for effectiveness and clarity. Conversations with primary points of contact at each school provided further insight into the process of assessing and improving campus alcohol policies. Of the 15 schools assessed, 11 added more effective policies, and four added more effective consequences during the 2 years following receipt of reports on the assessment. Campuses have control over their own policies, and greater attention to them from researchers and practitioners could better maximize their potential for enhancing student health and safety and supporting student success.

Nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NMPS) has increased on college campuses during the past two decades. NMPS is primarily driven by academic enhancement motives, and normative misperception...

Background There are high levels of stress among graduate students, and stress is associated with multiple negative outcomes among student populations, including academic burnout. Sleep could play an important role in explaining the association between stress and burnout, but these relationships have not been explored among the graduate student population. The current study assessed whether or not sleep duration and quality moderated the relationship between stress and burnout (i.e., exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy) among graduate students. Methods A sample of 2683 master’s, doctoral, and professional graduate students from two large, public universities completed an online survey. Linear regression models with interaction terms were developed to evaluate the relationships between stress and burnout while examining moderation by sleep duration and quality. Results Participants slept an average of 6.4 h per night, with 62% indicating good sleep quality. Stress had significant, positive relationships with exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. The relationship between stress and exhaustion lessened as sleep duration increased, and the relationship between stress and exhaustion was weaker among students with good sleep quality when compared with those with poor sleep quality. Neither sleep duration nor sleep quality moderated the relationships between stress and cynicism or stress and inefficacy. Conclusions Improving sleep habits has the potential to lessen the negative association between stress and graduate student functioning. Future research utilizing longitudinal designs is needed to understand the temporality of these associations and the influence of possible co-factors like individual propensity for mental health problems and social support.