Recognizing the prevalence of nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NMUPS) among college students, researchers set out to examine factors that may predict NMUPS among college students in the United States. One cognitive factor that may increase a student’s risk for NMUPS is executive functioning deficits such as difficulties with planning, organization, self-motivation, and interference control. College students often report academic enhancement as a motive for NMUPS. Executive functioning deficits often result in decreased academic performance and increased risk behavior, therefore students with these deficits may engage in NMUPS to enhance their academic performance. A convenient sample of 314 college students participated in the study by completing the Stimulant Survey Questionnaire (a 40-item questionnaire that measures NMUPS in college students) and the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (a scale with higher scores representing higher executive functioning deficits).  Of the individuals sampled, 18.8% reported NMUPS during their lifetime. Students with clinically significant executive functioning deficits had significantly higher scores on the prescription stimulant misuse questionnaire compared to those with no deficits.

Take away: The findings of this study suggest that students with executive functioning deficits are at increased risk for NMUPS than students without executive functioning deficits. This may help identify students at risk for NMUPS and has important implications for prevention and intervention policies on college campuses. The effects of NMUPS on overall functioning of students with these deficits are unknown, thus further research on this relationship is needed.

Munro, B. A., Weyandt, L. L., Marraccini, M. E., & Oster, D. R. (2017). The relationship between nonmedical use of prescription stimulants, executive functioning and academic outcomes. Addictive behaviors65, 250-257.