Could psychostimulant drug use among university students be related to ADHD symptoms? A preliminary study.

We aimed to explore if psychostimulant use among student could be linked to attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms using a self-administered questionnaire sent by email to French students in 2021. Participants were asked about their psychostimulant use and the presence of ADHD symptoms using the Wender Utah Rating Scale and the Adult Self-Report Scale. Among the 4431 respondents, the prevalence of psychostimulant use was concerning and significantly associated with ADHD symptoms. This association could be related to undiagnosed ADHD or to psychobehavioral impairments induced by psychostimulant use underlining the need of ADHD screening and targeted prevention measures.

An overview of the use of psychoactive substances among students at the University of Lille during the COVID-19 health crisis: Results of the PETRA study.

OBJECTIVES: Students represent a population at risk for substance abuse. That risk may have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to describe substance abuse among students and to compare consumption according to the university field. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was sent by email to all students at the University of Lille, France, between March and July 2021. This anonymous questionnaire included questions about sociodemographic characteristics, university courses and the use of psychoactive substances (frequency, reasons, routes of administration) since the first university year. RESULTS: Among the 4431 students who responded (response rate 6.1%), eighty percent declared having used alcohol since the first university year, 34% cannabis, 15.4% benzodiazepines, 14.7% opioid drugs, 7.5% cocaine, 6.8% nitrous oxide and 6.5% MDMA. More than 20% of the users of cannabis, benzodiazepines, amphetamines and cocaine reported having already felt dependent. Recreational use was described by more than 10% of benzodiazepine or opioid drug users. Nitrous oxide use was significantly more frequent in the health and sport field (p < 0.001). Tobacco, benzodiazepine, cannabis and MDMA uses were significantly more frequent in the humanities and social sciences/art, language and literature fields (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Prevention measures focusing on alcohol, cannabis, illicit psychostimulants, nitrous oxide and prescription drugs are required in the student population.