Open AccessSex‐specific risk profiles for substance use among college students
Author(s) -
Martin Caitlin E.,
Ksinan Albert J.,
Moeller Frederick Gerard,
Dick Danielle
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
brain and behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 41
ISSN - 2162-3279
DOI - 10.1002/brb3.1959
Subject(s) - sensation seeking , cannabis , demography , impulsivity , medicine , substance abuse , mood , psychology , substance use , clinical psychology , psychiatry , social psychology , personality , sociology
Abstract Introduction Growing evidence indicates sex and gender differences exist in substance use. Framed by a lifecourse perspective, we explored prospectively by sex the effects of distal and proximal factors on the initiation of drug use in college. Methods College students without prior drug use ( n = 5,120 females; n = 2,951 males) were followed longitudinally across 4 years. Analyses were estimated as a multigroup survival analysis separately by sex within a latent variable SEM framework with illicit drug use (6 or more times in past year) as the latent factor. Results More males initiated drug use (8.5%) than females (6.4%, χ 2 (1) = 10.351, p = .001), but less so for Black males (AOR 0.33, 95% CI [0.18, 0.60]) and females (0.35 [0.23, 0.54]). Students initiating drug use more likely included students smoking cigarettes at baseline (males 1.40 [1.23, 1.59]; females 1.43 [1.24, 1.64]), using alcohol (males 1.04 [1.02, 1.06]; females 1.04 [1.02, 1.06]), or having cannabis using peers (males 1.79 [1.52, 2.11]; females 1.70 [1.49, 1.93]). Impulsivity domain associations differed by sex [negative urgency: females (1.23 [1.02, 1.49) and sensation seeking: males (1.33 [1.01, 1.75])]. History of unwanted/uncomfortable sexual experience predicted drug use for males (1.60 [1.09, 2.35]) and females (1.95 [1.45, 2.62]) but physical assault only for females (1.45 [1.08, 1.94]). Mood symptoms predicted drug use only for males [depression (0.73 [0.56, 0.95]); anxiety (1.40 [1.04, 1.89])]. Conclusions Risk factors for initiating drug use during college differ by sex. As substance use during early age predisposes one for addiction, sex‐ and gender‐informed interventions for young adults are needed.