Abstract
There is a consensus among addictions researchers and clinicians that mental health concerns and substance use problems are often interrelated. It is less clear to what extent the general public, and university students in particular, understand connections between substance use and mental health. The current study aimed to understand university students’ perceived links between substance use and mental health by conducting three semistructured focus groups (N = 24 participants, 67% female). Thematic analysis of the data yielded five themes: (1) Students use substances to cope with mental health issues, (2) substance use can lead to mental health problems, (3) links between mental health and substance use are cyclical, (4) substance use is an aspect/indicator of mental health, and (5) substance use and mental health are not always linked. Findings provide insight into the understudied area of perceived links between substance use and mental health and have implications for campus programming.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 399-410 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Emerging Adulthood |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 1 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The Caring Campus Project was funded by Movember Canada (Grant # 35361), H. Stuart, S.-P. Chen, T. Krupa, K. Dobson, S. Stewart, and M. Teehan.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood and SAGE Publishing.
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Life-span and Life-course Studies
