Patterns of College Student Drug Use: A Longitudinal Social Learning Study

Abstract

A repeated-measures study over a Canadian academic year (6 mo.) examined personal and social predictors of patterns of college freshman drug use among 151 users. Frequency of use, stage of use, and self-reported significant adverse consequences of use were predicted by high social support for use, low expectations for goal attainment, high personal functions of use, and high attitudinal tolerance of use. Changes in personal and social variables over an academic year were related to heavy use patterns. The predictive power was increased by combining personal and social variables in a multivariate field theory.