The association between alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use and risk perception in college students

Abstract

Alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use are highly prevalent at college. Perception of the risks associated with substance use (i.e., perceived risk [PR]) modulates engagement in substance use. This study examined, in college students, the perceived risk of using alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana and its association with alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use. We also examined differences in PR as a function of exhibiting last-year tobacco or last-year marijuana use, and differences in the PR of using alcohol as a function of exhibiting binge drinking (≥ 4/5 standard drinks per drinking session, women/men, respectively). College students (n = 279, 75.6% women; M age = 23.02 ± 3.36) completed an online survey that measured quantity (alcohol, tobacco) and frequency (alcohol, tobacco and marijuana) of substance use within the previous month and year and PR of using alcohol, tobacco and marijuana (e.g., “How much do you think people risk harming themselves [physically, in their health, or in other ways] if they: 1-smoke >10 cigarettes per day, 2-drink 4–5 standard drinks every weekend, 3-consume marijuana >1 per week?”). Lower PR was significantly associated with greater quantity (alcohol rs between -.12 and -.35; tobacco rs between -.16 and -.23) and frequency of substance use (alcohol r between -.14 and -.32; tobacco r between -.19 and -.26; marijuana r between .26 and .56). Last-year tobacco users and last-year marijuana users perceived the use of tobacco (t(277) = 4.52; p ≤ .001) or marijuana (t(277) = 11.56; p ≤ .001) as less risky than peers who did not report use of these substances. Binge drinkers perceived alcohol consumption as less risky than non-binge drinkers (t(277) = 4.41; p ≤ .001). Discussion: Overall, results showed a significant negative association between PR and substance use, that was particularly robust for marijuana. This information allows a better understanding of substance use in emerging adults, which should be useful to identify college students at-risk for problematic substance use.