Sexual events perceived as negative among college students are often associated with the misuse of prescription drugs, a new study published in the journal Addictive Behaviors found.
Researchers from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, SUNY at Albany and the University of Michigan analyzed 509 college students who reported nonmedical use of prescription drugs. Almost 11 percent of participants were freshmen, more than 25 percent were sophomores, more than 26 percent were juniors, and almost 38 percent were seniors.
Negative sexual events are nothing new to college campuses across the country. A 2005 study found that 72 percent of sexually active college students reported having sexual encounters that they regretted at least once. A 2011 study found that students who reported misuse use of analgesics, anxiolytics/sedatives, and stimulants engaged in high-risk sex, which includes an increase in sexual partners and unprotected sex.
The SUNY study examined the effects of three drug classes — stimulants, anxiolytics/sedatives, and analgesics — on negative sexual events. More than 76 percent of the participants reported using stimulants, nearly 40 percent reported using anxiolytics/sedatives and almost 41 percent reported using analgesics.
Researchers found that during a period of prescription drug misuse, 14.3 percent of the students reported regretting having sex; more than 7 percent of students that were female reported sexual victimization, and more than 6 percent of male students reported sexual aggression.
The results showed that… (continue reading)
Author: Livia Areas-Holmblad
Livia Holmblad is an editor at Addiction Now and covers breaking news, features and everything in between. She moved to SoCal after living in NYC for about 10 years, where she worked for VICE and SinoVision as a writer, editor, host, producer, and director. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. Contact Livia at liviah@addictionnow.com
