Survey
of college students shows 18 percent use stimulants to help them study, write papers
Nearly one in five students at an Ivy League college reported
misusing a prescription stimulant while studying, and one-third of students did
not view such misuse as cheating, according to a study to be presented Saturday,
May 3, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada.
Stimulants are used
to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Recent studies have
shown that students without ADHD are misusing these medications in hopes of
gaining an academic edge. This study looked at the prevalence of medication
misuse at a highly selective college and whether students believe misuse of
ADHD medications is a form of cheating.
Researchers
analyzed responses from 616 sophomores, juniors and seniors without ADHD who
completed an anonymous online questionnaire in December 2012.
Results showed:
· 18 percent reported misusing a prescription
stimulant for an academic purpose at least once while in college, and 24 percent
of these students said they had done so on eight or more occasions;
· juniors reported the highest rate of stimulant
misuse (24 percent);
· 69 percent of those who misused stimulants did so
to write an essay, 66 percent to study for an exam and 27 percent to take a
test;
· more students who played a varsity sport and were
affiliated with a Greek house reported stimulant misuse compared to students
affiliated with only one or neither; and
· 33 percent of students did not think stimulant
misuse for academic purposes was a form of cheating, while 41 percent thought
it was cheating and 25 percent were unsure.
"While many
colleges address alcohol and illicit drug abuse in their health and wellness
campaigns, most have not addressed prescription stimulant misuse for academic
purposes," said senior investigator Andrew Adesman, MD, FAAP, chief of
developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Steven & Alexandra Cohen
Children's Medical Center of New York. "Because many students are misusing
prescription stimulants for academic, not recreational purposes, colleges must
develop specific programs to address this issue."
Survey results also
showed that students who misused stimulants were more likely to view this as a
common occurrence on their campus compared to students who had never misused an
ADHD medication. Specifically, 37 percent of those who had misused an ADHD
prescription thought that more than 30 percent of students had done the same
compared to only 14 percent of students who had never misused a stimulant.
The findings from
this and similar studies pose a challenge to pediatricians, Dr. Adesman said.
"To the extent that some high school and college students have reported
feigning ADHD symptoms to obtain stimulant medication, should physicians become
more cautious or conservative when newly diagnosing ADHD in teens?
Additionally, should pediatricians do more to educate their ADHD patients about
the health consequences of misuse and the legal consequences that could arise
if they sell or give away their stimulant medication?"
It also is
important to consider the ethical implications of prescription stimulant misuse
in higher education, said principal investigator Natalie Colaneri, a research
assistant at Cohen Children's Medical Center.
"It is our
hope that this study will increase greater awareness and prompt broader
discussion about misuse of medications like Ritalin or Adderall for academic
purposes," she said. "It is important that this issue be approached
from an interdisciplinary perspective: as an issue relevant to the practice of
medicine, to higher education and to ethics in modern-day society."
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