Swedish Universities are a place where alcohol is consumed on a regular basis, and by a very large proportion of the student body. Students also tend to drink heavily when they drink, as seen in the measures of binge drinking. Their scores on the AUDIT indicate a much higher risk of future alcohol problems than is seen in the non-student population. And indeed these students are already experiencing a great many harms related to their drinking. These harms could potentially cause some students to withdraw from school, their education incomplete. Swedish Students see drinking as a part of the university experience, while the majority do not make that connection with respect to drug use. They do not use illicit drugs to anywhere near the level that they use alcohol, and it is also clear that as a result students do not experience drug-related harm at a rate at all comparable to alcohol. Having said that, the findings of this study show one of the highest rates reported for lifetime and 12-month cannabis use
(Guttormsson, 2004). Our rates are higher that that reported for in the Undomars Drogvanor 1994-2003 report even with the high proportion of females in the sample and the age make-up of students older then the CAN sample (and rates of use decline with age).
One of the most interesting pieces of information to emerge from this study is that although a quarter the students had used cannabis during their lives, the large majority had only used it a few times. One hypothesis is that students who use it more often would eventually drop out of school, thus exiting the sample, so we see a skewed view when only looking at this
functional group. An opposing possibility is that this is how it has always been, young adults experiment, find out what is and is not for them, and discard behaviours they find
unappealing. More research is needed to address this.
Another finding of particular interest is that a number of structural elements that may act to increase the frequency and quantity of students drinking. In particular, the findings that students who live in student corridors and with roommates, where there is high-student density, exhibited the highest rates of problem drinking and drug use. Also, students participate in events on campus drink more.
It is well known that university students experience high levels of stress. Particular program areas are strongly linked to heavy, drinking and the use of drugs. There is also a connection between course pressure, autonomy and satisfaction and drinking; as well as the connection between poor mental health status and both cannabis and prescription drug use. This suggests a number of alternatives, drug use maybe a coping mechanism engaged by students, and/or the camaraderie in some programs (perhaps related to increased social support) may result in increased festive drinking.
These types of findings suggest that there may be some underlying structural facilitators to students’ drinking that may be best addressed though unique approaches that bypass the standard educational campaigns, and individually targeted approaches that have been used in past attempts to reduce risky behaviour. Creativity and further research is needed to move forward in this area. While this work is being done, teaching students how to become better students may be useful to help them gain the most out of their study time.
to binge drinking even in the multivariate analyses when age and relocation (where lived before starting school) were being controlled for. More work needs to be done to gain an understanding of why these first year students are so vulnerable and what might be done to improve their situation.
Prescription drug use and abuse by the students is another area where further research is necessary. A more specialized study directed towards finding out what drugs people are taking when and why is necessary before any policy issues can be addressed. Are students self-medicating and thus do not think of their medication use as drug use? Are they trying to obtain a high? to escape, to relax? Little is known about this area, and more needs to be known, given the large number of people who indicated that they were using prescription drugs.
Students indicated that they are not supportive of additional controls being put in place by the university administration in attempt to control drinking and drug use behaviour. However, at the same time many of them indicated that the university authorities should act to suspend, expel or provide counselling for students who are caught using or selling drugs. Therefore it seems that there is leeway for new policy development if the students see the benefit in it and buy into it. However, getting the students to that state will be a challenge to achieve since less than ten percent of the students were even aware if the university had a drug or alcohol policy in place.
Finally, students indicated that they would be receptive to information and help from
specialists in the drug area. It seems that Mob and its drug coordinators are well placed at this juncture to assist students.
References
Allen, J.P., Litten, R.Z., Fertig, J.B. & Barbor,T. (1997). A review of the research on the Alcohol Use Disorders Test (AUDIT). Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 42(4):613-619.
Edwards. P., Roberts, I., Clarke, M., DiGuiseppi, C., Pratap, S & Wentz, R. (2002). Increasing Response rates to postal questionnaires: Systematic Review. British Medical
Journal, 324(7347): 1183-1191.
SCB (2004b). Befolkningens studiedeltagande höstterminen 2002.
http:/www.scb.se/templates/print___27808.asp. Stockholm: Statistiska centralbyrån. Guttormsson, U., Andersson, B. & Hibell (2004). Undomars drogvanor 1994—2003:
Intervjuer med 16—24-åringar. [Young Adult’s drug use 1994—2003: Interviews with 16—
24 year olds] Rapport nr 75. Stockholm: Centralförbundet för alkohol- och narkotikauppylsning.
Mangione, T.W. (1995). Mail Surveys: Improving the Quality. London: Sage Publications. SCB (2001). Befolkningens utbildning och sysselsättning. Statistiska centralbyrån. Stockholm SCB (2003). Befolkningens utbildning. Stockholm: Statistiska centralbyrån.
SCB (2004a). Befolkningens studiedeltagande höstterminen 2002.
http:/www.scb.se/templates/print___27814.asp. Stockholm: Statistiska centralbyrån.
Trinkoff, A.M. & Storr, C.L. (1997). Collecting substance use data with an anonymous mailed survey. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 48:1-8.
Appendix A – Study Materials
Sample Reminder Card (mailings 2 & 4):
Hej! Det här är en påminnelse ifall du
inte har skickat in ditt frågeformulär.
Vi skulle uppskatta om du har
möjlighet att göra det så snart som
möjligt.
Om du redan har skickat in det – tack
så mycket!
Sample Response Card (front):
Jag har returnerat frågeformuläret separat i det bifogade svarskuvertet.
Nu behöver jag inte få några fler påminnelser.
Jag är samtidigt med i utlottningen av: 1. En cykel
2. En biobiljett
Från Akademiska Föreningen Kuratorskollegiet
Lunds Universitets studentkårer Sandgatan 2 223 50 LUND
Till:
Lunds universitet
809543
SVARSPOST
kundnummer22 332349
00
228 20 LUND
Sätt etiketten här Frankeras ej Mottagaren betalar portot. (back)SoRAD:s rapportserie
ISSN 1650-5441Leifman H. & Trolldal B. (2001) Alkoholkonsumtionen i Sverige under andra halvåret 2000. Stockholms Universitet:
SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 1
Leifman H. & Trolldal B. (2001) Alkoholkonsumtionen i Sverige 2000/2001. Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 2
Leifman H. & Trolldal B. (2002) Svenskens alkoholkonsumtion i början av 2000-talet med betoning
på 2001. Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 3
Westfelt L. (2002) Internationella kasinon i Sundsvall och Malmö – Inställning, attityder och
förväntade effekter. Rapport från SoRADs forskningsprojekt “The community impacts of casinos”.
Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 4
Eriksson M. & Olsson B. (2002) Alkohol- och drogförebyggande arbete på mindre arbetsplatser. En
telefonintervjuundersökning med personalchefer på 445 företag i Sverige med mellan 20-99 anställda. Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 5
Abrahamsson M. (2002) Ungas definitioner av alkoholist, storkonsument och fyllo. Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 6
Palm J. (2003) Kvinnor och män i svensk missbruksbehandling: en beskrivning av personalen inom
socialtjästens missbrukarvård i Stockholms län och deras syn på missbrukarvården år 2002.
Stockholms universitet – Forskningsrapport nr. 7
Storbjörk J. (2003) Kvinnor och män i svensk missbruksbehandling: en beskrivning av personalen i
Stockholms läns landsting beroendevård och deras syn på missbrukarvården år 2001. Stockholms
universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 8
Palm J. & Storbjörk J. (2003) Kvinnor och män i svensk missbruksbehandling: en beskrivning av
patientgruppen i Stockholms läns landstings beroendevård 2002-2001. Stockholms universitet:
SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 9
Westfelt L. (2003) Spelproblem i tre svenska orter: resultat från 6000 intervjuer i Sundsvall, Malmö
och Karlstad. Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 10
Leifman H. & Gustasson N-K. (2003) En skål för det nya millenniet. En studie av svenska folkets
alkoholkonsumtion i början av 2000-talet. Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport
nr. 11
Fondén C., Skrinjar M., Leiknes M. & Olsson B. (2003) På vems villkor? Om möten mellan
myndigheter och narkotikabrukare. Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 12
Lalander P. & Andreasson J. (2003) Det statliga kasinot: Mellan myt och verklighet. Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 13
Eriksson A., Palm J. & Storbjörk J. (2003) Kvinnor och män i svensk missbruksbehandling: en
beskrivning av klientgruppen inom socialtjänstens missbrukarvård i Stockholms län 2001-2002.
Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 15
Westfelt L. (2004) Kasinoetablering, spelvanor och spelproblem. Situationen före och efter
etableringen av statliga kasinon i Sundsvall och Malmö. Stockholms universitet: SoRAD –
Forskningsrapport nr. 16
Sandberg B. (2004) I väntan på sämre tider? En explorativ studie av statsmaktens och centrala
aktörers intentioner, roller och förväntningar på alkoholprevention i arbetslivet. Stockholms
universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 17
Abrahamson M. (2004) Alkohol och unga i 20-årsåldern – rus, lust, problem och prevention. Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 18
Eriksson A. & Olsson B. (2004) Alkoholvanor bland studerande: Konsumtion, konsekvenser och
attityder bland högskolestuderande och övriga i åldrarna 19-29 år. (Ännu ej publicerad)
Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 19
Hradilova Selin K. (red.), Eriksson M., Leifman H., Olsson, B., Ramstedt, M. Room, R., Steen, P (2994): Svenska dryckesvanor och deras konsekvenser i början av det nya millenniet. Stockholms universitet: SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr. 20
Bullock, S. (2004) Alcohol, Drugs and Student Lifestyle: A Study of the Attitudes, Beliefs and Use of
Alcohol and Drugs among Swedish University Students. Stockholms universitet: SoRAD –
Alcohol, Drugs and Student Lifestyle
A Study of the Attitudes, Beliefs and Use of Alcohol and Drugs
among Swedish University Students
Sandra Bullock
Centrum för socialvetenskaplig alkohol- och drogforskning Stockholms universitet, Sveaplan, 106 91 Stockholm www.sorad.su.se Telefon: 08-16 20 00
SoRAD – Forskningsrapport nr 21 – 2004 SoRADs rapportserie ISSN 1650-5441