Do perceived social norms impact prescription stimulant misuse by college students? A recent study investigated this question by asking college students to self-report lifetime and past-year prescription stimulant misuse, as well as self-approval and perceived social norms for prescription stimulant misuse (n=959). Results indicated that participants overestimated prevalence for lifetime (perceived, 50%; actual, 29.7%) and past-year (perceived, 44.3%; actual, 22.9%) misuse, and this overestimation was greater for past-year prescription stimulant misusers relative to non-misusers. In addition, past-year misusers also reported greater self-approval, as well as perceived approval by close friends, parents, and the typical college student relative to non-misusers.
Take Away: Findings from this study support that college students overestimate the rate of prescription stimulant misuse on their campus, with past-year prescription stimulant misusers perceiving greater use, self-approval, and perceived approval than non-misusers. Although the majority of college students do not misuse prescription stimulants, this study suggests that social norm campaigns may be an effective approach to prevent prescription stimulant misuse on college campuses.