Preventing Substance Misuse on College Campuses Prevention Technology Transfer Center PTTC Network

The misuse of alcohol, cannabis, and prescription stimulants can lead to both short-term and long-term health consequences. Furthermore, the misuse of prescription stimulants can lead to addiction and dependency, which can have long-term negative effects on a student’s health and academic progress. Binge drinking is particularly concerning, as it can lead to elevated blood alcohol levels and increase the risk of illicit drug use. Understanding the types of substances commonly abused can help in addressing this issue effectively.

However, the effect of this program on the reduction of drug use in young people remains unclear due to no studies to date have examined the effect of this program on substance use in adolescents. The R&R program includes a wide range of strategies to improve problem-solving, social perspective-taking, critical reasoning, empathy, negotiation skills and values . These programs have shown promising results in enhancing the reduction of substance use among youth people. Some examples of successful school-based programs, include the School Health and Alcohol Harm Reduction Project (SHAHRP) in Australia , Project ALERT and ALERT Plus in Hispanic and Latino Student Mental Health Guide the United States, as well as the Unplugged program , which has been tested in seven European countries.

Advantages and challenges of substance use interventions for adolescents in educational environments

For example, the Strong African American Families-Teen program effectively prevents drug use and emotional problems in black adolescents by offering 10 h of adolescent skills training courses and family courses. Family involvement has been found to be effective in treating adolescent substance use disorders. For example, alcohol or tobacco price controls can be implemented through taxes18-22, minimum age laws can be enforced, and the availability of inhalants can be minimized. Substance use by parents or relatives in the family environment has an insidious influence on adolescents while also providing a channel for their substance exposure. Such exposure not only causes various negative health outcomes, but may also result in psychological health issues such as anxiety and depression in adolescents6-9.

Substance Abuse Services in MA

This article will explore five effective ways to tackle substance abuse on campus and foster a culture of well-being. Additionally, community colleges and other colleges and universities that have a higher percentage of adjunct faculty, part-time faculty, lecturers, or other instructors may not have received the same kind of professional development and support as their full-time, tenure-track peers. Consistent with other recommendations, institutions should be aware that courses like these are likely to increase the demand for mental health and substance use services as a natural consequence of raising awareness of those services. Other resources include Becoming a Master Student (Ellis, 2017), which provides diverse information focusing on whole-person development, and Kognito, which offers online student mental health workshops that engage students in role-play conversations with virtual humans.

Botvin et al showed that peer intervention programs were more effective than regular classroom teaching. The research suggested that students who increased their exercise time by 20 min were more likely to reduce their daily smoking quantity (Table 3). The results of these studies confirm that exercise interventions are acceptable to adolescents and help reduce substance use behavior. Exercise programs to intervene in adolescent substance use problems help adolescents develop good lifestyle habits to reduce the willingness to engage in substance use and the frequency of substance use60,61. These interventions had positive effects on adolescent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use to varying degrees. Analyses and table summaries of the literature revealed that these articles could be grouped based on the type of intervention strategies used.

• We especially appreciate the facilitative support provided by the Offices of the Dean of Students and Student Development of the University of New Haven.
• However, various factors can pose challenges in how students interact with and learn in the education system.
• As colleges and universities work to determine how to increase mental health services, leadership should ensure that the personnel, resources, and programs are inclusive of the identities of individuals represented on the campus and historically underrepresented in academia.