Publications by authors named "Laura M Garnier-Dykstra"

This study tested the hypothesis that college students' substance use problems would predict increases in skipping classes and declining academic performance, and that nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NPS) for studying would occur in association with this decline. A cohort of 984 students in the College Life Study at a large public university in the US participated in a longitudinal prospective study. Interviewers assessed NPS; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) cannabis and alcohol use disorders; and frequency of skipping class.

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Objective: Few longitudinal studies have examined the relationship between illicit drug use and academic outcomes among college students. This study characterized drug use patterns of a cohort of young adults who were originally enrolled as first-time, first-year college students in a longitudinal study. It evaluated the association between these drug use patterns and continuous enrollment during college, holding constant demographic characteristics, high school grade point average, fraternity/sorority involvement, personality/temperament characteristics, nicotine dependence, and alcohol use disorder.

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Background: The relationship between serious drug involvement and risk for unemployment is well recognized, but few studies have prospectively examined this relationship among college students. This study used longitudinal data to examine the association between drug use patterns during college and the likelihood of employment post-college, holding constant sociodemographic variables and personality characteristics. Second, we estimate the prevalence of alcohol and other drug use disorders among employed individuals.

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Introduction: Light and intermittent patterns of cigarette smoking are prevalent among U.S. college-aged individuals.

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Objective: Examine trends in nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NPS), including motives, routes of administration, sources, cost, and risk factors.

Participants: 1,253 college students.

Methods: Data were collected annually during academic years 2004-2005 through 2008-2009.

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Longitudinal studies are often considered to be a gold standard for research, but the operational management of such studies is not often discussed in detail; this paper describes strategies used to track and maintain high levels of participation in a longitudinal study involving annual personal interviews with a cohort of 1,253 undergraduates (first-time, first-year students at time of enrollment) at a large public mid-Atlantic university.

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Marijuana is the most prevalent illicit drug used by adolescents and young adults, yet marijuana initiation is rarely studied past adolescence. The present study sought to advance our understanding of parent and peer influences on marijuana exposure opportunity and incident use during college. A sample of 1,253 students was assessed annually for 4 years starting with the summer prior to college entry.

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Aims: Drunk driving is a major public health concern, but drugged driving has received little attention. This study examines drugged driving and riding with a drugged driver in a college student sample, in terms of prevalence, age-related trends, race/sex differences, overlap with drunk driving, and risk for alcohol and marijuana dependence.

Methods: Students (N=1194) ages 19-22 were interviewed annually for 3 years about past-year frequency of drugged driving, riding with a drugged/drunk driver, drunk driving, access to a car, and alcohol/drug dependence.

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Objectives: To understand the extent to which medication adherence was related to diversion of prescription analgesics.

Design: Cross-sectional analyses of data from the College Life Study, a prospective study of young adults.

Setting: Participants were originally sampled as incoming first-time first-year college students from one large public university in the Mid-Atlantic United States.

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College students have high rates of heavy drinking and other risky behaviors, but little is known about trends in their use of cocaine. In this longitudinal study of 1253 college students at one large, public university in the mid-Atlantic region, annual interviews assessed opportunity to use cocaine, cocaine use, and DSM-IV criteria for cocaine abuse and dependence. Follow-up rates exceeded 87% annually.

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Objective: Report the distribution of scores from the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) and estimate the prevalence of self-reported attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms as compared to clinical diagnoses.

Participants: Participants were 1,080 college students, divided into 3 groups: (1) no ADHD diagnosis (n = 972), (2) diagnosed with ADHD but no current pharmacologic treatment (n = 54), and (3) diagnosed with ADHD with current pharmacologic treatment (n = 54).

Methods: The ASRS was administered during the fourth annual interview of an ongoing longitudinal cohort study.

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Objective: To investigate the possible association between untreated ADHD symptoms (as measured by the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale) and persistent nonmedical use of prescription stimulants.

Method: Multinomial regression modeling was used to compare ADHD symptoms among three groups of college students enrolled in a longitudinal study over 4 years: (1) persistent nonmedical users of prescription stimulants, (2) persistent users of marijuana who did not use prescription stimulants nonmedically, and (3) consistent nonusers of drugs.

Results: ADHD symptoms were associated with being a persistent nonmedical user of prescription stimulants after adjustment for race/ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, and other illicit drug use.

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