Author: Gary Jackson

Drug and Alcohol Use in College-Age Adults in 2018 National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA

NSDUH covers residents of households and people in noninstitutional group settings (e.g., shelters, boarding houses, college dormitories, migratory workers’ camps, halfway houses). The survey excludes people with no fixed address (e.g., people who are homeless and not in shelters), military personnel on active duty, and residents of institutional group settings, such as jails, nursing homes, mental health institutions, and long-term care hospitals. For more information on the survey design, including details on differences in data collection procedures by mode, and the percentages of interviews that were completed via the web or in person by quarter, see the 2022 Methodological Summary and Definitions report. Drinking too much at one time can lead to alcohol poisoning, which is very life-threatening and must be taken care of very quickly.

Does Insurance Cover Rehab for College Students?

1. In addition, daily or near daily use of marijuana has continued to rise among college students since 2015, with 8% of college students reporting using marijuana on a daily or near daily basis in 2020 compared to nearly 5% in 2015.
2. Due to these changes, estimates based on these outcomes should not be compared with estimates from 2021.
3. The percentage of adolescents reporting substance use decreased significantly in 2021, representing the largest one-year decrease in overall illicit drug use reported since the survey began in 1975.
4. The evaluation consists of 11 yes or no questions that are intended to be used as an informational tool to assess the severity and probability of a substance use disorder.

Additionally, on college campuses across the country, alcohol flows quite freely, and drugs may be more readily available. Some students may use substances as a way to escape from all the stress; others may take certain drugs to try and boost academic performance. However, any misuse of any substance has the potential to lead to the development of a substance use disorder. For this reason, the 2022 Detailed Tables include revised estimates for 2021 that were created using the updated person-level weights.

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Others may use drugs such as stimulants or hallucinogens in order to get a high that they feel they lack in their life. The Monitoring the Future (MTF) study has been annually tracking substance use among college students and noncollege adults ages since 1980. Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, the survey is conducted annually by scientists at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor. Results are based on data from college students one to four years beyond high school graduation who are enrolled full-time in a two- or four-year college in March of the given year, compared with same-age high school graduates not enrolled full-time in college. Data for the 2020 survey were collected online from 1,550 college-aged adults between March 20, 2020 through November 30, 2020.

How Long is Rehab? (Will I Have to Leave School?)

Substance use treatment and mental health treatment estimates from 2021 are marked as not available or not comparable due to methodological changes (“–”) in the 2022 Detailed Tables. The analysis weights used for tables for the 2021 NSDUH included two-way interactions of quarter with other demographic characteristics in the adjustment models as a means of partially accounting for quarterly variations in interview mode proportions. However, including these interaction terms did not adjust the proportions of interviews that were completed via the web or in person to a set of fixed proportions. Without further adjustment to the weights, apparent increases in estimates between 2021 and 2022 could be due to a greater proportion of in-person interviews in 2022 rather than real changes in the population. Stated another way, apparent increases in estimates for 2022 could be partially due to the greater proportion of in person respondents in 2022, and not just to true changes in prevalence in the population.

With this in mind, when we compared drug use over time, we compared groups that might have been categorized differently but contain the same drugs. Monitoring the Future is an annual drug use survey of eighth, 10th and 12th grade students conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. As some students navigate the ins and outs of college — including intense academics and large social scenes — drug use, and subsequently misuse, can be a reality. In contrast, similar increases and record highs in marijuana use have not been observed among 12th graders in recent years, with 35% of high school seniors reporting using marijuana in the past year in 2020.

Getting Help for Drug Misuse in College

NSDUH person-level weights are calibrated to population estimates for the state and demographic domains provided by the U.S. Starting with the 2021 NSDUH, population estimates based on the 2020 decennial census were used in developing the person-level analysis weights. The percentage of adolescents reporting substance use decreased significantly in 2021, representing the largest one-year decrease in overall illicit drug use reported since the survey began in 1975. American Addiction Centers (AAC) offers customized treatment for people aged 18 and older. Some AAC facilities offer a specialized young adults program, where group therapy happens among peers, who have similar unique challenges, needs, and experiences.

About College-Age & Young Adults

In 2020, 49% of noncollege respondents reported alcohol use in the past 30-days, 22% reported being drunk in the past 30 days, and 24% reported binge drinking. Both the substance use treatment and mental health treatment questions underwent considerable revisions for the 2022 NSDUH. Due to these changes, estimates based on these outcomes should not be compared with estimates from 2021.

As discussed in the 2022 Methodological Summary and Definitions report, the use of multimode data collection starting in 2021 increased nonresponse rates due to web respondents discontinuing the survey prior to completion (i.e., breaking off). To reduce the potential bias that would arise from handling missing data due to break-offs the same way that other missing data (i.e., responses of “don’t know” or “refused”) were handled in analyses (i.e., excluding missing data or zero-fill method), break-off analysis weights were created. These break-off analysis weights were used for a subset of unimputed measures that were derived from questions asked later in the survey. It is difficult to have many numbers showing how well treatment is working simply because “success” is difficult to define with regards to addiction; some define it as a completion of the program, others define it as sobriety for a certain period of time after the program ends, while others base it on patient reviews.

Alcohol Use and Abuse

Sam is currently studying editing and publishing at BYU, with a minor in Digital Humanities. She has a great passion for writing and learning, and has really enjoyed the opportunity to research and learn about social issues while working with the Ballard Brief. Outside of school, Sam loves reading as many books as she can, being in the mountains in the fall, and telling everyone she can about the importance of peach Cheerios. Seeking help may involve different steps, such as having a consultation with the campus health center, talking to a counselor on campus, or seeking treatment at a hospital or rehab center.13 Getting treatment can help prevent the consequences substance use can have on your child’s health, academic career, and overall well-being. From February through June 2021, the Monitoring the Future investigators collected 32,260 surveys from students enrolled across 319 public and private schools in the United States. Additionally, you can make a list of resources where your child can seek help at school (like campus counseling centers or off-campus rehabs).

The 2020 survey results are now available online, and a summary of key findings is below. In addition, daily or near daily use of marijuana has continued to rise among college students since 2015, with 8% of college students reporting using marijuana on a daily or near daily basis in 2020 compared to nearly 5% in 2015. In comparison, 13% of same-age adults not in college reported using marijuana on a daily or near daily basis in 2020, consistent with recent years. From CollegeAIM, we are able to find how these programs affect college campuses and whether or not they are effective. This effectiveness has been researched by addiction professionals over the course of many years, analyzing the different strategies, their effectiveness, and the cost. AlcoholEdu states that these programs are decreasing the amount of binge drinking and other substance abuse on campuses, but the organization does not provide numbers to support these statements.