Nonmedical use of stimulants and cannabis among college students has been a growing concern for many universities. Some studies have indicated that use of these substances can be associated with adverse effects. In particular, use of cannabis in adolescence may significantly affect brain development and nonmedical use of stimulants has been associated with increased risk of using other substances. Information scanning may be one factor influencing nonmedical use of cannabis and stimulants. It is a less direct form of obtaining information and occurs when a person comes across material that interests them and they further analyze that information. This form of information acquisition is very prevalent and can impact one’s health beliefs and behaviors. This study examines the impact of information scanning on nonmedical use of stimulants and cannabis in college students.
The study’s sample consisted of 800 college students from a university in Israel who completed online surveys. The study consisted of three survey waves and 62.4% of students who participated in the first survey completed the second survey and 69.5% completed the third survey. The surveys assessed information scanning by asking participants to recall coming across information from a variety of sources including the media and interpersonal sources. Students were asked to presume how their peers feel about cannabis and stimulant use and if their peers would approve of the person’s own use of the substances. Participants were also asked to report how often they had used cannabis and amphetamines within the past month. Data was analyzed using cross-lagged structural equation models to assess the impact of information scanning on substance use.
Results of the data analysis showed that information scanning from media sources related to cannabis at 6 months increased likelihood of reporting cannabis use at 12 months. For amphetamines, information scanning from interpersonal sources at 6 months was positively associated with amphetamine use at 12 months. Results also suggested that one’s perceived norms about cannabis use influenced likelihood of information scanning regarding cannabis and this later affected likelihood of cannabis use.
Takeaway: Information scanning may provide predictive value when assessing amphetamine and cannabis use in college students.