Binge Drinking, Cannabis Co-Consumption and Academic Achievement in First Year University Students in Spain: Academic Adjustment as a Mediator

Little is known about how binge drinking or the combination of binge drinking and cannabis consumption affect academic achievement in students during the transition to university, or about the mechanisms that mediate this relationship. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association betwee...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 17; no. 2; p. 542
Main Authors Páramo, María Fernanda, Cadaveira, Fernando, Tinajero, Carolina, Rodríguez, María Soledad
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI 15.01.2020
Subjects
Academic Success
Adolescent
Binge Drinking - epidemiology
Female
Humans
Male
Marijuana Smoking - epidemiology
Prevalence
Social Adjustment
Spain - epidemiology
Young Adult
Spain
university students
cannabis
adjustment
academic achievement
alcohol binge drinking
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Summary:Little is known about how binge drinking or the combination of binge drinking and cannabis consumption affect academic achievement in students during the transition to university, or about the mechanisms that mediate this relationship. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between this pattern of alcohol/cannabis consumption and academic achievement, considering academic adjustment as a possible mediator. A total of 258 Spanish, first-year university students (145 females and 113 males), enrolled in undergraduate degree courses, were categorized into three groups on the basis of their patterns of alcohol/cannabis consumption: control, binge drinkers and co-consumers. The findings showed a significant effect of the combined binge drinking/cannabis consumption, but not of binge drinking alone, upon academic achievement and academic adjustment. Grade point average (GPA) and academic adjustment were lower in the co-consumers than in the other groups. Regarding the mediation effect, 34.33% of the impact of combined alcohol/cannabis use on GPA was mediated by academic adjustment. The combined consumption of alcohol and cannabis led to difficulties in adaptation to academic life, which in turn contributed to poorer performance at university. The implications of the findings are discussed.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph17020542