Personality or pathology? Predictors of early substance use in first-year college students

• Published in: Journal of American college health Vol. 71; no. 5; pp. 1630 - 1637
• Main Authors: Mitchell, Benjamin J., Aurora, Pallavi, Coifman, Karin G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis 01.07.2023; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Anxiety; Behavioral activation; Clinical interviews; College Freshmen; College students; Correlation; Depression (Psychology); Diaries; Drug use; Emotional Problems; Emotional regulation; Emotions; experience-sampling; First year; Health Behavior; Inhibition; Measures (Individuals); Medical diagnosis; Mental Disorders; Pathology; Personality; Personality Measures; Personality tests; Personality Traits; Psychopathology; Risk; Stress Variables; Student Attitudes; Substance Abuse; substance use; Undergraduate students; substance use; experience-sampling; personality; psychopathology; Behavioral activation
• ISSN: 0744-8481; 1940-3208; 1940-3208
• DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2021.1947297

Research suggests that students entering their first year of college may be at significant risk for developing substance use problems by relying on substances to regulate their emotions. The aim of the current study was to examine the dual role of personality and psychopathology in predicting substance use among first-year students. 103 first-semester undergraduate students were recruited via the university subject pool. Participants completed personality questionnaires, structured clinical interviews, followed by the completion of diary entries each week reporting on substance use throughout their first semester. Results indicated that a past diagnosis of an affective (mood/anxiety/stress) disorder was the most significant predictor of substance use. Personality and current psychopathology had no association to substance use. This finding is consistent with developmental models of substance use relating to emotion-related disease and suggests that greater nuance is needed in understanding substance use risk in college students.