College students rarely seek help despite serious substance use problems
Received 20 February 2009; received in revised form 20 April 2009; accepted 28 April 2009. published online 25 June 2009.
Abstract
The prevalence of substance use disorders (SUD) and aspects of the help-seeking process among a high-risk sample of 946 students at one large public university were assessed in personal interviews during the first 3 years of college. After statistically adjusting for purposive sampling, an estimated 46.8%wt of all third-year students met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria for SUD involving alcohol and/or marijuana at least once. Of 548 SUD cases, 3.6% perceived a need for help with substance use problems; 16.4% were encouraged by someone else to seek help. Help-seeking was rare among SUD cases (8.8%) but significantly elevated among individuals who perceived a need (90.0%) or experienced social pressures from parents (32.5%), friends (34.2%), or another person (58.3%). Resources accessed for help included educational programs (37.8%), health professionals (27.0%), and 12-step programs (18.9%). College students have high rates of substance use problems but rarely recognize a need for treatment or seek help. Results highlight the opportunity for early intervention with college students with SUD.
aCenter for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR), University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA
bCenter for Health Behavior Research, Department of Public and Community Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
cDepartment of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
dTreatment Research Institute, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Corresponding author. Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR), University of Maryland, 4321 Hartwick Road, Suite 501, College Park, MD 20740, USA. Tel.: +1 301 405 9795; fax: +1 301 403 8342.
ABSTRACT