A comparison of substance use behaviours and normative beliefs in North-West European university and college students
-
John McAlaney
,
Cécile R. Boot
Abstract
The social norms approach is an increasingly popular intervention for substance use that has been used extensively in the American college system. It operates by correcting normative misperceptions individuals hold about their peers. However, there have been few direct comparisons of substance use misperceptions between student populations in different European countries. The current study sought to address this through use of a survey of substance use and normative beliefs at universities in five European countries. Students at each site were invited to take part in an online survey that included items on personal substance use and the perceived use of peers. A total sample of 6404 students was obtained. Mann-Whitney and χ2 analysis were used to demonstrate an apparent misperception effect, with the majority of students at each site significantly (p<0.05) overestimating the substance use of their peers. This study suggests that students in Europe are prone to misperceiving the substance use of their peers in a manner similar to their American college counterparts, despite the cultural and legislative differences between these settings. This provides support for the potential in using social norms approaches to reduce rates of harmful substance use in European student populations.
©2012 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Editorial
- How to promote holistic development in university students?
- Reviews
- Development of a positive youth development subject in a university context in Hong Kong
- College drinking: a call to physicians
- Suicide and suicidal ideation among college students
- Protein intake in athletes: a review
- Perspectives on acute abdominal pain in the college student: a clinically challenging conundrum
- Stimulant abuse on the college campus: Titanic tip of an imposing Icelandic iceberg
- Original Articles
- Promoting leadership and intrapersonal competence in university students: what can we learn from Hong Kong?
- Promoting psychosocial competencies in university students: evaluation based on a one-group pre-test/post-test design
- Process evaluation of a positive youth development course in a university setting in Hong Kong
- Qualitative evaluation of a positive youth development course in a university setting in Hong Kong
- Focus group evaluation of a positive youth development course in a university in Hong Kong
- The chasm between blood donation intention and action: a study among college students in Delhi, India
- Academe and the field: a case study of a physical therapy program
- 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
- A comparison of substance use behaviours and normative beliefs in North-West European university and college students
- Gender differences in sleep habits and sleep-related problems in Arab Palestinian university students
