The relationship of bullying and physical violence to mental health and academic performance: A cross-sectional study among adolescents in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Background And Objectives: Bullying and physical violence are serious public health concerns witnessed during adolescence and are associated with several health and behavioral problems that can persist into adulthood. The relationship between bullying/physical violence and mental health/academic performance in Saudi Arabia is unknown. This study aims at filling this gap through identifying the association of these health risk behaviors and mental health and academic performance.

Alcohol and illegal drug use behaviors and prescription opioids use: how do nonmedical and medical users compare, and does motive to use really matter?

Background/aims: This study compares illegal drug and alcohol use behaviors between medical and nonmedical users of prescription opioids (PO) and nonmedical users with distinct motives to use.

Method: An ethically approved cross-sectional study (2010) was conducted on a representative sample of private university students (n = 570), using a self-filled anonymous questionnaire.

Results: About 25% reported using PO only medically and 15% nonmedically.

Gambling behaviors among university youth: does one's religious affiliation and level of religiosity play a role?

This study investigated the association between religion, religiosity, and gambling using a cross-sectional sample of 570 American University of Beirut students, who self-filled an anonymous English questionnaire. About half (55%) were lifetime gamblers, of which 12% screened as problem/pathological gamblers. Controlling for other demographics and lifetime substance use, Christian students (vs.

Prevalence and patterns of commonly abused psychoactive prescription drugs in a sample of university students from Lebanon: an opportunity for cross-cultural comparisons.

Background: Concerns about psychoactive prescription drug abuse among youth are growing worldwide, but the majority of published studies remain from the US and Canada impeding cross-cultural comparisons. This study examines the prevalence, sources, motivations and substance-use correlates of commonly abused medications among youth from Lebanon.

Methods: An IRB-approved cross-sectional study was conducted (May 2010) at the American University of Beirut.